


When the Stars Align

by CptDaffyd



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-05-12 23:34:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 46,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5685901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CptDaffyd/pseuds/CptDaffyd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a spacer meets a writer, sparks fly.<br/>A space-age adventure and a whirlwind romance, set in an original universe with bits drawn from Honorverse, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Star Wars, and Star Trek.<br/>Rated Explicit for later chapters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When I first met you, I didn't know what to do.

Location: Shield Base, Sol system

"Stop her!" came the shout from a rather ugly thug. Upon his order, two cronies turned to see the fleeing back of a surprisingly fast young woman. Giving chase they began to close the distance rapidly.  
Skidding around a corner, and then taking a hard turn, Kai wound her way through the hallways of the space station. she could hear the lumbering thugs behind her, and they were keeping pace. _I have to do something fast_ she thought. Seeing a narrow doorway, she ducked into it, and hid as close to the door as she could, hopefully making herself as small as possible.  
She could hear them thundering down the hall she had just been in, and it was at that moment that a most improbable thing happened. The door opened, and she tumbled backwards into a darkened room. The room was pitch black without even a night light in it, but it gave off a sense of being a decent size, empty, yet only of life, as it wasn't quiet like a completely empty space was. The door slid closed mere seconds before she heard the thudding footsteps of the thugs who were chasing her run past the door and further down the hallway.  
Sparing a moment to breathe a sigh of relief, she attempted to look around. "Now where the hell am I?" Grumbling she stood up, and then took a moment to grab the towel wrapped bundle that she had been clutching as if it were priceless. "At least Tricia isn't broken." Smiling she walked in a rather straight line, attempting to locate a wall, and a light panel. She found the wall, and a light panel at the same location, pressing the panel the lights came up, revealing a well furnished and comfortable looking apartment. By casual glance, whoever lives here made good money. She could see a kitchen, a dining room, and a hallway with at least three, maybe four, doors in it. 

"Oh great, from the frying pan into the fire." she muttered. "I just hope i don't get found here, I don't want to be blamed a thief." Walking slowly down the hall she looked at the doors. _One of these has to lead out of here. I can't go back the way I came, so now I just have to get out of here._ She thought nervously. She swung the furthest door down the hall open and cautiously peeked inside. The light from the hallway filtered in and revealed what obviously looked like a master bedroom. The room was dominated by a large comfortable looking bed, desk, closet and what appeared to be a door leading to a full bathroom. 

"Well crap. This obviously won't lead me out of here" she muttered unhappily. closing the door she turned to the one next to it. _Please be a hallway, PLEASE be a hallway_ she prayed silently as she pushed it open. 

~*~*~*~

Daffyd docked his shuttle and immediately headed for home. He was tired and it had been a VERY long day. As he walked the corridor leading to his apartment, he was nearly hit by a couple of spacers.

"Hey watch where you're going you idiots before I report you!" He snapped at them, causing them to freeze and lock up.

"Sorry Sir, we'll be more careful!" One of them said before they let him past and kept on running where he came from. 

~*~*~*~

The next door she checked appeared to be a spare bedroom, that while not as well appointed as the master bedroom, was still comfortable, though it didn't have its own bathroom. She could see two other doors in the hall though. 

Cursing her bad luck, she closed the door and turned to another door. "Please get me out of here before there’s trouble" she whispered as she opened the next door. The door opened to reveal what looked like both an office and a spare bedroom at the same time. It had a desk and several book shelves covered in books in it, and the bed was just big enough for a well built man. Like the previous spare bedroom, this room did not have a bathroom attached. 

~*~*~*~

Daffyd approached his quarters and smiled. Hoping to relax with a bottle of wine and a good book before he went to bed. He was going to be very busy the next couple of days. 

He reached his door and smiled even wider as he reached to open it, knowing it was unlocked. 

~*~*~*~

Hurridley shutting the door on the lovely office she shook her head. "What kind of person needs 3 spare rooms?" turning to the final door, she was suddenly filled with dread. _What if theres no way out but back..._ Shaking her head briefly as if dismissing the thought, and crossing her fingers She opened the door praying for the best. 

The last door opened to reveal a nice sized bathroom, complete with double sink, shower and a bathtub big enough that she could fully immerse her small frame in. Behind her, she heard the tell tale sound of a door opening. 

_Time's up, girl. MOVE!_ Her mind screamed at her. Fear rooted her feet in place, like a deer in headlights, she turned towards the door. 

Daffyd blinked as he saw his lights were on. _Funny I thought I had turned them off when we left_ he thought. He then saw movement out of the corner of his eye and his hand ducked into his old formal jacket, feeling the pistol there.

"Whoever you are, come out slowly and with your hands visible and I won't hurt you." He said coldly. 

Kai stepped forward slowly, both hands open and empty, her towel wrapped bundle on her back. Her eyes were large and on the verge of tears as she looked at the man in the doorway. 

The man before her was fairly tall and well built. His hair was going grey quite heavily, and his dark brown eyes bored into her. He wore simple black pants and what looked like an old, faded, Shield Fleet Officer's formal jacket, which one hand was resting inside. While his voice was cold, his expression was relaxed.

"Now what is a pretty young lass doing in my home?" He asked, his voice a lot warmer, but with a hint of steel in it. 

"I...I..." _Get it together Kai, hes handsome, but you're in his home_ her mind chided her.  
Swallowing her fear back she flashed a warm, lovely grin.  
"Greetings sir! My name is Kai Ix, I am a wandering minstrel, and I took refuge, completely by accident in your room, from a gentleman who was wishing ill upon me.” She spoke quickly, getting her entire explanation out in one breath. “I apologize for my transgression."  
She looked him up and down, and hoped he believed her. 

Daffyd blinked and slowly pulled his hand out of his jacket. "Are you telling me that someone was trying to rape you lass?" He asked slowly as she got the impression that a very large, dangerous and deadly predator was in the apartment with them. 

A bright flush spread over Kai's face. "Pretty much. If your door hadn't opened when it did, I don't know what would be of me. His thugs would have caught me eventually. Can i put my hands down now, sir?" 

Daffyd smiled and nodded. "Of course lass. If ya can write down the description of the three in question, I can certainly do something about that. I take a dim view of people attempting to rape someone." He said with a slightly evil grin as he moved to a locked and sealed cabinet.

"Please have a seat, consider yourself my guest for the time being." He said. 

"Thank you sir!" Walking over to the nearest chair, she removed the towel bundle from her back and sat gracefully, crossing her booted legs at the ankle and placing her bundle on her lap. "I would feel awful calling harm upon another. It was my misunderstanding that led to this," Kai began to babble in relief "He offered me payment for a song, and after the song, he made a move on me. I just thought he was being kind to me for playing him a song... I... He tried to touch me, so I kneed his groin and ran. So here I am... babbling... again... oh dear." Clamping her mouth shut, she lowered her gaze to her lap. 

Daffyd chuckled as he pulled out a bottle of wine from the cabinet. 

"Well then maybe justice has been served. By the way, my name is Daffyd McKay, from Catachan. I must say it isn't often I have a beautiful and exotic young woman like you just appear randomly in my home." He said with a smile as he came to join her, the wine and two glasses in hand. 

Her eyes lit up and a tinkling laugh escaped her throat. "Exotic? Oh... Its the ears huh? These things get me into such trouble." blushing deeper her vocal onslaught dried up as she processed his statement.  
_he called me beautiful..._

He smiled at her as he opened the wine. "They are different yes, but they fit you I think lass. I've been from one side of explored space to the other over the years, and thought I had seen every kind of physical quirk humanity had. Guess even an old space dog like me can learn something new." He chuckled as he poured himself some wine. "Would you like a glass?" He offered her. 

"I would! Thank you Daffyd." she took the glass in her long slim fingers, and stared at the contents. "The ears were great grandfather Praxibetel's idea. He decided that 'The Ix family should stand apart as the authors of the greatest book in the galaxy' so, genetically sculpted ears for all. Sadly, it also makes us targets." she took a sip of wine, and smiled at the smooth taste. 

"Ahhh you're from THAT branch of the Ix family. I've done a few runs for your family. But what are you doing on Shield Base?" He asked as he sipped his wine and smiled softly at her. _How old IS she?_ he thought.

She looked curiously at Daffyd. "Well, if you know my family, then you should know what i am doing here... I”ve been hitchhiking, and researching!" 

"And getting into trouble it seems." He said with a grin. "Lucky for you I'm a nice guy. Of course if I wasn't and did try something with you, my daughter would gut me like an angry Hexapuma!" He said with a belly shaking laugh. "So you're safe here." 

Smiling sadly she looked at Daffyd. "I am truly safe nowhere, as I am the last of my line, but I appreciate the sanctuary you offer." She looked thoughtfully into her drink. "What is this, by the way? Its lovely, but I cant identify it." 

Daffyd raised an eyebrow at her words then smirked. "I'm not surprised, it's from my home planet of Catachan, from my family's vineyard. Well my uncle's I should say." He smiled sadly. "I understand what being the last of a line is like. I too am the last of my father's line. My uncle has no children, nor siblings left alive, and he has no intention of marrying." 

"That is a shame. Do you not have a son to carry your line?" She took another appreciative sip of the wine and swirled it thoughtfully, experiencing all the notes within. 

Daffyd chuckled and shook his head. "I'm it. My daughter is by adoption, though I love her as if she were of my own flesh and blood." He said sadly. "Let's just say I've had terrible luck with women." He said even more sadly as he sipped more wine, his eyes sad and lost in the past. 

"I find it hard to believe a man like you would have trouble with women." the sentence slipped her mouth before she could catch it. Her face flushed deeper and she set down her glass. _pretend nothing happened, maybe he won't catch what you said_ "How about I play you a song? You seem rather down all of a sudden." Kai grabbed her towel wrapped bundle and removed a beautifully crafted guitar with golden hearts inlaid along the fret bar. She strummed the strings gently, and smiled serenely at the lovely chord they issued. 

He chuckled as she started to play. "My last girlfriend left me for a man from Earth because 'he is more successful than you'll ever be.'" He sighed. "I'm rough around the edges and all, being former military will do that, but what's wrong with just wanting a woman to love you for yourself and not what you bring to the table?" He asked her, his face flushed. Catachan made wine being one of the few things that can get ANY Catachan native drunk off one to two glasses, despite only being slightly more alcoholic than Earth wine. 

"Well she didn't know what she had, I’m sure. You seem a kind man. As grandpa used to tell me, 'Kai, judge not by magnitude of achievements, but by quality of personality.' and I live that daily." She strummed a little more before picking a soft, airy tune up. Reminiscent of spring and flowers, the tones of her guitar gently filled the apartment with soft music. "Any requests? You'd be surprised my repertoire." She took her left hand off the frets and grabbed her glass to take another drink of wine, continuing the melody with her right hand. 

"Please play whatever strikes your fancy, there is very little music that bothers me at all." He said with a soft smile. _Maybe my luck might be changing_ he thought drunkenly as he gazed at her. 

Kai smiled and paused thoughtfully. Pressing a switch on the neck of her guitar, she tapped out a quick beat with her nimble fingers before starting the melody intro. Her guitar now squealed with the tones of an electric guitar, dark and emotional. She then began to sing, allowing her silken voice to weave with the music.

"They see you as small and helpless  
They see you as just a child  
surprise when they find out that a warrior will soon run wild"  
She glanced at Daffyd, looking for any signs of discomfort.

"prepare for your greatest moments  
prepare for your finest hour  
the dream that you've always dreamed is  
suddenly about to flower"  
Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to get lost in the music.

"we are lightning  
straying from the thunder  
miracles of ancient wonder...  
this will be the day we've waited for  
this will be the day we open up the door  
i don't wanna hear your absolution  
hope your ready for a revolution  
welcome to a world of new solutions  
welcome to a world of bloody evolution  
in time-your heart will open minds  
a story will be told  
and victory is in a simple soul"

And with a grand flourish, Kai hit the last note hard, and opened her eyes. Her breathing was heavy, her face flushed, and her eyes sparkled. 

Daffyd watched her play, entranced by her music. After her music ended he couldn't stop his mouth from saying what he was thinking.

"Beautiful." He said in a soft voice, but loud enough that she could hear him.

She laughed heartily. "Thank you! That’s always been one of my favorites!" setting her guitar down, she grabbed her glass, and noticing it was empty began to twirl the stem between her fingers. "Mr. McKay... Thank you for saving my hide today, and being so nice. My biggest fear was you would think me a thief if you found me in your home." she looked up and locked eyes with Daffyd, honesty shining in them. "Thank you." 

Daffyd blinked, then smiled kindly at her. "You're welcome lass. Tell me, how many turns of the seasons have you seen?" He asked her, feeling relaxed around her. _Ara would flip if she found out I'm actually finding myself attracted to someone!_ He mused with a light smile. 

_kai, think about your answer. This man is older, could even be in his hundreds. You know how long people outside the Ix family live._  
Kai looked at Daffyd nervously.  
_But i don't want to lie to him._  
She let out a small chuckle and averted her face. "I am 30. I turn 31 in a month." 

Daffyd blinked, then smiled. "Do you have a place to stay aboard the station?" He asked her. _Yup Ara's going to flip, then kill me, I'm being attracted to a woman 1/5th my age!_ He thought. _And yet I can't bring myself to stop._

"To be honest, I don't. I arrived here on a trade ship, and after the events of earlier, I don't much fancy going back. I was planning to hitch a new ride..." she stopped suddenly. _don't say it. Don't play your cards yet. You don't want a repeat of Javan, do you?_ she chided herself mentally. "But as I haven’t spent much time in great grandpa's favorite area, it might be nice to explore more." 

_Why did she stop?_ He wondered while he smiled softly at her. "Well you're welcome to stay here as long as you need or want to Kai." He offered, saying her name for the first time, testing it like one would a fine wine. "I'll be staying here for a few days before I head back out to space again aboard my ship." 

"You have a ship?" Kai lit up happily. "Can I... Can... Can I come with you into space?" The plea slipped from her mouth in tentative tones.

He blinked at her enthusiasm. "I don't see why not, but it'll be about 99% boredom and 1% mind numbing, gut wrenching, bowl emptying terror." He warned, his being drunk loosening his tongue some. "If you don't mind following this old merchant/warrior, then you're welcome too." 

"I don’t mind terror, and I fight boredom with Tricia over there." She said simply, pointing to her guitar. 

"Then welcome aboard the Free Catachan! So do you have any other skills besides the lovely music and your charming personality?" He asked, flirting with her a little. 

"Well, I'm a decent runner, have been studying the art of parkour, and i can disarm people with a power chord from Tricia... If those count as skills" She thought for a few minutes, cataloging all her skills, before speaking up again "Oh! And probability tends to be wonky around me. Part of why I’m the last of my line, to tell the truth." 

Daffyd raised an eyebrow and smirked. He could tell she was holding back, but what he wasn't certain, and that was fine with him for now. "Well then, I'm sure we can find something for you to do, heck the crew might take to training you, you can never have too many skills I think." Daffyd said, then yawned loudly. 

"I am a quick study." Kai laughed a little as Daffyd yawned. "You look tired Mr. McKay. We ought to get you to bed." Kai stood up and offered her hand in assistance. 

He gladly took her hand. _Wow her hands are soft, I wonder what she could do with them besides music? No! Bad Daffyd! No dirty thoughts about bedding her!_ He thought, and then immediately chided himself, as he stood up. "Feel free to use either spare bedroom. Mine is the largest. Oh and no peeking." He told her with a playful wink. 

A furious blush colored kai's face and shoulders. "I... I wouldn't dream of it. I am no fiend." she smiled and then grabbed her guitar and her giant towel. "Thank you for allowing me to stay, and goodnight... Daffyd." she practically purred his name out, and stretched up to place a kiss on his cheek. "Sweet dreams." and saying so, she walked to the first guest room she had found earlier, and stepped inside. She closed the door and then leaned against it and slid down till she was sitting on the floor. She sighed deeply, and let the emotions of the day cascade out of her like a waterfall. 

Daffyd blinked and blushed after she left and brought his hand up to his cheek. _Does she find me attractive?!_ He thought as he walked to his room and settled down for the night. _I think this is going to be a wonderful opportunity._


	2. Where the Night becomes the Day.

After running a comb through her hair, and stripping off her bodice and pants, Kai nestled herself between the sheets of the bed, clutched her towel to her chest and drifted to sleep.

Rest was not on the menu this night, however, for no sooner had she fallen asleep, the visions began to once again parade in her mind.

Looking around, Kai was no longer in a bed, but instead only in a space-walk suit. She was floating aimlessly, watching Betlegeuse 5, her home, grow ever more distant. She watched as it grew smaller and smaller, until she landed with a thump, hard enough to break her helmet. Looking around, she found herself in a familiar, and yet unfamiliar arena. The gates opened and hordes of monsters poured out. She tried to outrun them all, and finally succeded when she climbed up the wall. She suddenly turned as she heard her name over the din of the monsters. Turning back in horror, she watched a green haired youth with pointed and elongated ears fall under the monsters, and with a blood curdling scream, she heard the sound of flesh ripping. She whimpered and collapsed onto the top of the wall. She suddenly found herself staring down a massive waterfall on Earth, and felt herself get pushed over the edge. She screamed as she fell, and as she approached the rocky bottom, she woke with a start. She found herself safe, in a bed, in the dark, and drenched in cold sweat. "Davin..." was all she whispered, as she curled her knees to her chest. She looked at the clock,she had been out for 2 hours. 

As she woke there was a knock on the bedroom door, soft enough not to waken all but the lightest of sleepers, but loud enough for someone awake to hear. 

Standing up, she wrapped her towel around her body and on shaky legs opened the door a crack to peek out. 

On the other side she saw Daffyd standing there in only his boxers, his face a odd combination of both concern and a readiness to fight. "Are you okay Kai? I thought I heard something, and I KNOW I felt something was wrong." He asked softly, gazing into her eyes and trying to ignore the fact that she might only be wearing that towel of hers. 

Her voice hoarse she opened the door more fully, revealing her towel wrapped around her under her arms, and her thin cotton blouse sleeves sheltering her arms. She looked confused in her not yet whole state, and she looked up at Daffyd as if she was looking through him. Sorrow etched in her face, all she could manage was "watched his death" before her legs gave out from under her. 

"Oh hell." Daffyd muttered as he caught her and held her gently. "Do ya want to talk about it?" He asked her gently as he held her. 

She blinked a few times and suddenly realization came to her eyes. Her face and shoulders flushed as she realized that she was being held. Finding her footing again, She balanced herself, and looked at the concern in Daffyds face. "Oh goodness, I am sorry. It seems I got trapped in a dream again." she tried to smile, but tears dribbled from her eyes instead. "I'll be ok. This just happens sometimes." she lingered in his embrace, drawing comfort from his arms. "Do you have any tea?" 

He smiled gently. "I do, would you like me to make a calming tea?" He asked her softly _by the God Emperor she feels good in my arms, no bad Daffyd she was just having a nightmare!_ He thought as he loosened his hold on her, letting her leave his embrace if she chose to. 

As his arms relaxed, she lingered a moment longer before stepping back, and nodding. "That sounds lovely." turning back to her room she spoke again. "I will come join you after I get dressed." she flashed a lovely smile and gently closed the door. 

_Don't bother on my account_ he thought as he went into the kitchen and fetched his tea set and one of the calming teas he had and started to brew the tea, forgetting to at least put on a pair of sweats. 

Back in her room, Kai put her bodice back on, and then fashioned her towel into a skirt for comfort, and proceeded out to the kitchen. She sat down at the table and watched Daffyd work on the tea. She chose to say nothing about his choice of attire. "So what's in the tea?" she asked in a soft, kittenish voice. 

"Camomile along with a few other calming herbs." He replied softly as he set the loose leaf tea into the hot water to steep, then looked over his shoulder at her and froze. _How did I get so lucky?!_ He thought as he couldn't help but stare at her. 

A sad smile crossed Kai's face. "So, firstly I need to apologize. I... Didn't mean to wake you after so little sleep. Its just that some nights I... Re-live... Horrible things." she folded and refolded her hands on the table before her. 

He smiled softly at her and motioned for her to take a seat in one of the comfortable chairs. "It's okay my dear. I'm a light sleeper because of a similar reason." He said soothingly as he glanced at the tea. 

Standing up from the table, she settled herself into a more comfortable seat, and tucked her legs up under her body. "You have bad dreams too?" 

He smiled as he poured the tea and brought her one of the cups. "More often than I admit to others." He said with a wry grin. 

_Kai, i don't think hes going to hurt you. You can let him in..._ her inner voice chided. She visibly relaxed, her posture becoming more open. "I re-live each of my siblings deaths." 

He winced at her words. "From the third or first perspective?" He asked gently. _Either way is terrible, I feel her pain, all my family is dead too._ He thought sadly. 

"Both." She hung her head sadly. "Tonight it was my third brother, Davin. He..." she paused for a moment to swallow back the pain of the memory. "He found himself in a pit fighting ring, against many monsters. He... Didn't make it to the wall in time and..." she trailed off, having a hard time finishing the statement. 

Daffyd got up and moved over to her, hugging her lightly. "Sounds like how my dad went, except it was against dragon-lizards. A full score of them, he had stumbled upon a nest, barely made it twenty meters before they were on him." Daffyd shuddered at the memory. "I was the one with the clearest shot." He said softly. 

Kai lifted her hand and touched his cheek. "I can't imagine actually being there. That must have been awful." 

Daffyd grimaced and nodded. "Dragon-lizards love eating live game, it's a slow painful death. I.......I had to give him mercy, I had the clearest shot...." Daffyd said softly, then shook himself. "But you're seeing things you weren't there in person to see aren't you?" 

Kai nodded "Yes. For each of my siblings, on the night they died, I saw what took them." 

"Nobody should have to see that." He said softly as one of his hands couldn't resist coming up to touch her cheek. "If ya ever need to talk about it, or anything else, my door is always open to ya." 

Kai smiled warmly, and nuzzled against his hand. "Just one more perk of being me, I guess. Thank you for listening." 

"No problem, you're the first person to know that I killed my own father." He said softly as his hand instinctively caressed her nuzzling face. 

"Such a sad memory. I wish I could take it from you, so it wouldn't pain you anymore." Kai looked into Daffyd's eyes and smiled. "You are too kind a man to hurt so." Breaking away, Kai stood up. "I think i will try sleeping again. I will make breakfast in the morning. Good night, Daffyd. Sleep sweet." 

"Good night Kai, sleep well and sweet dreams." Daffyd said softly as he slowly put his tea set up before going to bed himself. 

~*~*~*~

Kai slept well, and when her body told her it was time to wake up, she shucked the remainder of her clothes and took leave of the spare bathroom. The hot water of the shower was exactly what she needed. 

Daffyd lay in bed still asleep, peacefully, while she moved about, his body more drained than he had realized. 

After her shower, she quickly toweled her hair dry, and wrapped the towel around herself, tying it into a halter dress. Grabbing her garments, she rinsed the grime and grit from them in the bathtub, and hung them to dry. After that was done, she made her way to the kitchen, grabbed some food supplies and started cooking. 

At the smell of cooking food Daffyd awoke. At first he was curious who was cooking, till he remembered the previous night. He got up and pulled on a clean pair of boxers. He left his room and walked to the kitchen and saw Kai cooking. Daffyd sat there watching her cook before giving into the temptation, what with her wearing only a towel, and walked up to her silently and kisses the side of her neck. "Morning beautiful." He whispered in her ear before he backed away with a smile. 

He backed away just in time, for a startled flail from Kai would have had her spatula meet his forehead.  
"Goddess of stars Daffyd! Don't scare me like that!" her ear tips flushed bright red as she continued cooking. "Go sit, breakfast will be done soon." 

"Yes dear." He said playfully as he moved to the smaller kitchen table with a wide grin, enjoying how her ears brightened because of him. He watched her cook in his kitchen, the sight oddly comforting to him. It had been a long time since he had been with someone, and it was nice to feel this comfortable with a woman that wasn't his daughter. 

Kai bustled around the kitchen singing softly as she cooked.  
"Do you like waffles?  
Yeah, we like waffles!  
Do you like pancakes?  
Yeah, we like pancakes!  
Do you like french toast?  
Yeah, we like french toast!  
Do-do-do-do  
Can't wait to get a mouthful!"

Turning from the stove with plates lining her arms kai beamed a big smile.  
"Waffles! With fruit, and bacon!" she set the plates on the table. 

"Looks delicious!" He said, looking at not just the food, but her as well, as she approached the table with their food. 

"Well, memum did teach me to cook well, so i tend to enjoy it, when have the time." kai smiled and sat down, grabbing herself a waffle and some fruit. 

Daffyd served himself and started to eat, enjoying the taste and smiled up at her. "Truly delicious my dear, not even when the best cook among my crew cooks do I eat this well!" He exclaimed with excitement as he enjoyed the food, noticing how her still damp hair draped over her and how the towel revealed almost as much as it hid, making it a little difficult for him to concentrate on eating.

_Don't make any more moves like early Daffyd my boy, unless she starts something, but damn would I love to make her scream my name to the stars._ He thought as he tried to concentrate on eating. 

"Mfff glafff yuuu liffff eet" Kai murmured around a mouthful of waffle. Swallowing the food, she grinned. "Im going to go see if my clothes are dry yet" and she stood up and walked into the bathroom. 

Daffyd watched her go and smirked a little as a thought went through his head and then out his mouth before he could stop it. "You don't have to change on my account." He said with a rough voice that hinted at potential things for the future. 

Kai stopped dead in her tracks, a red flush consuming her ears, and lighting up her shoulders. "I... This... I can see I am distracting you, and at this stage, further distractions would be unwise." she padded quietly into the bathroom and closed the door. Laying her forehead against it, she looked in the mirror at her face. _I hope i didn't hurt him, but it's to soon to get physical._

Daffyd chuckled and shook his head as he moved to get dressed himself. She was fun to tease, and he'd been at least able to prevent his body from reacting to hers, but it was a near thing a couple of times. _I like her, a lot, at least physically, but emotionally and mentally she IS a breath of fresh air._ He thought as he got dressed in a pair of sweat pants and his old Navy physical training shirt. _Hmmm I wonder if Ara and Tylar are awake, hehe the boy probably has a hangover._ Daffyd chuckled as he left his room and went to sit in the living room, grabbing his com on the way, just in case. 

Kai re-emerged from the bathroom fully clothed, and with her towel draped over her arm. "Good morning Daffyd. I hope my statement did not offend." Kai flashed a brilliant smile. "Do not get me wrong, you are very attractive, and very kind, and there are a great many things I would like to do, but now is not the right time." 

Daffyd smiled up at her from where he was sprawled on the couch. "No you didn't offend me Kai, quite the opposite actually. I find you amazingly attractive in both body and spirit, but this isn't Catachan where life is fleeting. We can take as much time as we need to before we get that intimate." He replied. "But that also won't prevent me from teasing you a little from time to time." He winked suggestively at her as he waved her to sit wherever she wanted. 

"I understand, and agree to your terms." Kai winked back at him. "Do you have laundry facilities here, and do you have any clothes I could borrow? I attempted to wash my outfit, but it is not as clean as I would like." 

Daffyd smirked and nodded. "I'm surprised you missed the laundry facilities in the bathroom, but I guess they are terribly modern that even I forget they are there. As for spare clothes...." He let his eyes wonder up and down her form appraisingly. "I believe I have a few things that would fit if you don't mind that they would be a bit loose and baggy on you." He answered. 

"As long as they're clean, I don't care what I wear." _that could be dangerous Kai..._ "So, Mr. McKay, what do you do for fun around here? I’ve never been to Sol system before." 

Daffyd smiled as he stood and went to his room and returned with a large t-shirt and a pair of baggy sweatpants. "These should fit you." He said as he handed them to her. "Usually I spend time with little Ara, tease her and what not, or spend some time with the few friends I have either here on shield base, or on Earth. There is a lot of history to see here, but I'm not much for attractions, mostly I relax at home and enjoy not having to travel and deal with pirates." He told her. 

The faintest shudder ran down her spine at the mention of pirates and her smile tightened. "Thank you, I will be right back." Kai took the offered clothes and went to change, and set her clothes to washing. 

Daffyd noticed the shudder and frowned slightly. _She or a family member has had bad dealings with pirates, probably a family member._ He thought as he waited for her return. 

Emerging from the bathroom, kai felt like a little kid, with one shoulder poking through the neck hole of the shirt, and the legs of the sweatpants bagging around her ankles. "I feel ridiculous, I LOOK ridiculous..." 

Daffyd looked at her and smiled softly. "I think you look beautiful and sexy." He told her truthfully. 

Kai blushed brightly, and found herself a seat.


	3. That was... unexpected.

Daffyd's personal comm went off and he grimaced and looked over at the unit. He was neck deep in reports and star charts at the moment and really couldn't break away from it to answer the comm. he then looked over at Kai and smirked, figuring who it might be and wanting to mess with her a little.

"Kai-honey, could you please answer the comm for me, I really need to go over these charts. It would mean a lot to me!" He said pleadingly at her. 

"Honey? Oh you've got to be kidding me! What am I, your secretary?" setting down her guitar she walked over to the comm, and leveling a glare at Daffyd, punched the button to answer. 

"'Ello, apartment of Daffyd McKay, Daffyd is unavailable at the moment, but I can take a message." 

The voice of Ara appeared as a threatening growl,"Who the fuck are you and why are you in my old mans house! So help me god old man if you’re cleaning your tally whacker right now because you fucked whoever the hell this bitch answering your Comm is, I'm coming to rip your dick off! You're supposed to be working." 

She then paused, "Also who the hell are you lady you're not one of the other people on his crew I know all them bastards by voice." 

"Hey, easy on my Guest Ara!" Daffyd snapped. “She's helping me while I'm looking at charts! And you're one to talk! I bet you're doing something with Tylar right now, knowing you, you vixen!" 

Daffyd looked over at Kai with an apologetic look. "Never expected that, and I do NOT think of you as a secretary, you're better than that, and I had a much better idea for you aboard my ship." He said just loud enough for Kai to hear. "And you look great wearing my old clothes." He muttered softly with a small smile. 

"Um I'm sitting on his lap. That is it. I haven't done anything the man has a hang over. What is her name cause she is not going on your ship without a background check. Also why the fuck is she in your clothes old man?" Ara grumbled not pleased at all that this was ruining precious time 

"Her name is Kai Ix and she is wearing my clothes because hers are in the wash, you got a problem with how I take care of my guests DAUGHTER?" He yelled at her. "Now be polite to her, she has been a wonderful companion since I met her, and not in the gutter minded way you were thinking dammit!"

_At least not yet, we aren't ready for that yet_ he thought. 

"Oh dear god old man you are thinking with your penis! Tylar talk to the old man as I run a quick check on her. Also old man you never have women around so what the fuck does she want. Oh wait I can find that out. Kai Ix you said? I'll get results in a few moments. Tylar knock some sense into him before I choke him!" 

Daffyd rolled his eyes again. "I'm REALLY sorry Kai, she can be over protective." Daffyd grimaced.

_I hope this doesn't scare her away, she makes me feel young again, and I like her._ He thought. 

"For what it's worth, miss Ara, it's nice to meet you. Your dad speaks highly of you, and i can tell he's proud." Kai looked around nervously. "I'm going to see if my clothes are clean yet." She quickly stood up and walked rapidly to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her quietly. 

Ara came back onto the line moments later. "What the Gods name dad. She is only 30. I'm old enough to be her fucking mom. Also she isn't just an ordinary woman. She comes from money and she is the heiress to it. However I think she ran away from home. You need to find out information because you do not need abduction charges and even I can't help your ass out of those." Ara sighed as she thought about it. 

"Be careful old man you need to know everything before you allow her on that ship or I'm grounding it on my orders. Your safety is more important than her." 

"She is a traveling minstrel as well, or did your research not bring up how her family earned its fortune? I do know a bit about her, also how we came to meet, seems she was being chased by a couple of spacers intent on causing her problems. She literally fell into my quarters. You know I can tell when someone is lying to me, and I happened to run in to the two chasing her before I got to my quarters, they had this look in their eyes that meant trouble." He said calmly. "Though I didn't know her age. By the way she is a fantastic musician and cook!" 

"Fine she needs to see me in person before you even leave the base old man. Now I have something I need to get back to... like taking care of a hung over man. Love you old man." 

“Love you too, take care of him, and I'll make the arrangements." He said with a sigh before going back to his charts, hoping still that Kai wasn't scared off. 

The bathroom door clicked open, and Kai poked her head out before dashing to her room. After dropping off Daffyd's clothes on her bed, she tried to center confidence, and re-laced her bodice, before walking out of the room. 

Daffyd looked up at her and gave her a gentle smile. "I'm so sorry about that Kai!" He said quickly, hoping she hadn't decided to leave just yet, as he had grown to enjoy her company in the short time she had been here. 

Kai flashed a strained smile. "I expected something like that. And now, I'm sure you have some questions for me, since your loving daughter probably found some questionable things in my background." Kai sat stiffly in the chair, expecting to be thrown out at any moment. 

"Other than your age, and that she thinks you might be a run away and is afraid that I might be brought up on abduction charges, and that you're an heiress, nothing much. I am curious as to what you intend to do with yourself, and how long you'd be willing to stick around this old space dog." He said calmly. "Oh and she wants to meet you in person before she'll let my ship out of dock with you aboard." He snorted at the idea of her being able to really stop him if he wanted to leave. 

Kai smiled warmly. "I will stick around as long as you need and/or want me to stick around. As for what I’m planning to do with myself, this might help illuminate some." Kai reached into her hip pouch and removed a data-pad with a sparkly sticker affixed to the back that read 'Don't Panic, Really'. She pressed a button and a series of happy chirps echoed as the screen came to life.

"Please state your inquiry" the data-pad spoke.  
Kai took a deep breath. "Guide, read entry 'Kai Ix'."  
After a few friendly chirps and clicks, the guide began reading.  
"Ix, Kai: 6th born child of Arthur and Hexaclara Ix. 4th generation Decendant of Praxibetel Ix. Tasked with completion of fourth generation entry to The Guide. In the recent event of Arthur Ix buying the space farm, Kai, being the only living member of Ix blood for the 4th Generation is now tasked with continuing the family lineage, as well as completing the entry the others failed to complete."

Kai stared at the guide in shock.  
"Dad... Died?" 

"I'm sorry for your loss." Daffyd said softly as he gazed sadly at her. "As for how long I want you to stick around, as long as you like. I enjoy having you around, you're a joy to talk with. You're beautiful and sexy. You're talented, and you understand what it means to lose people you love." He told her as he watched her. 

Kai stared numbly at the guide, sitting open on the table, trying to register what had just been stated. "Wha... Wait... Now they want me to breed? Are they nuts?!" Kai threw up her hands in frustration. "It's not enough that Prax insists each generation expand the guide, but now I have to make a new generation? This isn't fair." rounding on Daffyd, Kai asked with a dark intensity "Can I make a call from here please?" 

"Of course you can." He said with a small smile at her expression. 

Grabbing the holocomm, Kai pulled out a strange, black plastic device that looked remarkably like a thumb and used it to access the com. 

Back on Betelgeuse 5, a call blinked into the Ix family compound. The gray haired woman sitting in an easy chair picked up the call.  
"Kai, so nice of you to call dear. I take it you got the guide message?"

Kai looked angrily into the com.  
"Yes Mother. And I REFUSE. I'll do things at my own pace, and I'll out live ALL of my siblings. I WILL NOT be tied down to breeding!"  
And with that Kai angrily ended the call. Turning to Daffyd, Kai's eyes brimmed with tears. "I think I need some retail therapy. Where is the nearest shopping facility?" 

Daffyd blinked, not expecting such a reaction. "The base has a pretty extensive shopping area, what with all the traffic that comes through here, would you like me to take you there?" He asked slowly. _Now this is a strong woman!_

Pulling herself back to composure, Kai smiled warmly. "Well, I suppose I need a nicer outfit than my traveling clothes if i am to meet and pass muster with your daughter, and i would appreciate you as an escort." 

Daffyd chuckled and smiled at her. "Sure, let me tell you about my little Aralinna while we walk." He said as he stood and held out his arm for her, fully intending to escort her properly. 

Kai gingerly placed her hand on his arm, and grinned up at him. "You aren't going to treat me any differently, now that you know I'm an heiress are you?" 

Daffyd snorted in amusement. "Kai, my daughter is the Chief of Naval Intelligence, her boyfriend is Admiral of the Fleet Tylar Noche. You being an heiress is almost normal for this country bumpkin!" He said with a wry chuckle. 

Kai laughed at that. Warmth and merriment returning to her persona. "People just tend to... Change... How they see me when they find out about my family." _Like Javan did._ Kai looked up happily. "But I’m still just me." she shrugged nonchalantly. 

Daffyd smiled at her as they walked through the station. "Exactly what I think! I was raised on simple things. Have enough to keep you and yours alive and comfortable. Don't lord your good fortune over others, and always try to protect those who can't protect themselves." He sighed sadly. "But I understand the issue with being the last of a line, and the pressure to have children." He shook his head almost angrily. 

"I just don't understand this obsession with bloodlines." Kai looked around at all the different types of people on the station. "I’ve never understood it! It's like these ears of mine. They're a hallmark that you are of Ix blood, but why does that even matter!" Kai shook her head. "I’m sorry, i just hate being told how to live my life."  
Kai gripped a little tighter to Daffyd's arm, and pulled herself just a touch closer. "Thanks for letting me use your Comm, by the way." 

"It's no problem my dear." He said softly as they neared the shopping area. "Until I left the military I lived my life by following orders, now I am my own man, and damn anyone who tells me I can't do something or be with someone." He said with a sharp grin, then leaned down to whisper in her ear. "It's not like me being five times older than you matters right?" He asked, an odd tone in his voice, almost hopeful, yet also fearful. 

Kai stopped dead in her tracks and froze like a deer in headlights. Everything in her brain ground to a screeching halt as his sentence tumbled around in her brain.  
 _He wants to... With me... I..._   
Kai stared at Daffyd, unsure what to say, and unable to think clearly. Until a little voice popped into her brain. _Kai, don't over-think this girl. He's probably not propositioning you. Hes older, he's probably not looking for a mere twig of a girl like you. Get a grip._  
Kai snapped out of her shock, face still beet red, and Smiled gently.  
"However old you are doesn't matter Daffyd." Kai resumed walking. 

"Thank you Kai, it warms my heart to hear you say that." He said with feeling as he smiled at her. "Ya know I must finally be having a turn of luck." He said casually as they entered the shopping area. 

"Why do you say that?" She queried as the walked into the shopping district. She looked at all the stores, and began dragging Daffyd towards a thrift store.


	4. Of Close Quarters and Dark Spaces

Daffyd smiled as she dragged him behind her. "My business is successful, Ara is my daughter, Tylar stopped being a dunce about Ara liking him, I caught a slaver that I've wanted dead for years, and I met what has to be one of, if not the most, beautiful woman in known space." He told her simply with a light grin. 

"Well, she must be something special. You'll have to tell me about her. Heck, she could probably give me some fashion tips. But right now, I need you to help me look presentable for your daughter, so I don't look like a Tramp." Kai started walking down the rows grabbing items of clothing and piling them over her arm. "Im really glad your luck is turning around tho." a few more items landed on her arm. "Bad luck really sucks." 

"Yes it does really suck." He grinned as he purposefully looked her up and down then snagged a daring cocktail dress in a color that would match her hair and eyes, and would make ANY hot blooded male melt at the sight of her in it, and casually snuck it into her selection to try on. 

"Ok. I think I can find some kind of appropriate outfit in this pile." Kai walked towards the dressing room, and then turned to Daffyd. "You sit here, I will be out shortly, and we can go." And then she turned and disappeared into the dressing room with her pile of clothing. 

Daffyd nodded and sat, waiting for her to come out, wondering if she'd showcase some of the clothes for him. 

In the dressing room kai tried on bit after bit, constructing the perfect ensemble. As she cycled through clothes, a Cocktail dress caught her attention. Looking at the cut and style of it, it would not have been something she would have normally grabbed. She pulled it over her head, and found to her dismay that there was a zipper down the back. "Curses!" Kai hollered out of the dressing room "Daffyd, can i borrow you for a second? I have a wardrobe malfunction." 

"Of course." He said as he came up to the dressing room and knocked politely. 

Kai opened the door and looked at him plainly. "I'm sorry to bother you, I just... I don't usually grab clothing i can't put on myself, and this zipper..." Kai turned around pointing the zipper towards Daffyd. "...Needs to be addressed. would you be so kind?" 

Daffyd couldn't help but stare at how sexy and beautiful she looked in that dress, and when she turned around and he could see the top of her ass where the dress of open it was all he could do to restrain himself. He reached forward with trembling hands and couldn't resist caressing her as he zipped up the dress slowly and sensually, leaning in to whisper in her ear.

"All done." He said huskily to her. 

Blushing furiously bright red, Kai straightened up and looked in the mirror. The dress hugged her curves perfectly, and while it was far too low in the front to wear to meet Ara, it was a lovely dress that would make a good addition to a wardrobe. Kai smiled. "Well, I’m not sure why I grabbed this thing, but it's nice enough that I think it will be coming home with me. After all, If I'm going to be sticking around a place for a while, I guess I'll need more than one outfit." Kai did a little spin on her toes and then turned her back to Daffyd one more time. "Would you be so kind?" 

His hands instinctively landed on her hips as he held her gently. "I think you look stunning in this dress Kai." He told her. "Before I forget though, because of your beauty, Ara isn't much of one for dressing up, so don't feel pressed to dress extra nice for her. The key to her is being yourself and being honest." He barely resisted molding himself to her when she faced away from him, but the heat from his body could be felt by her with how close he was standing. 

"I will keep that in mind, Daffyd." Kai whispered back, unable to manifest more voice than that. "For now, however, could you please unzip this thing so i can finish building my new outfit?" 

Daffyd slowly and sensually pulls the zipper down her back, caressing her lightly at the same time, finishing down over her ass with his hand gently sliding over her ass and barely touching the top of the back of her thigh. "All done." He said huskily. 

_Kai, stop this, before you both go too far._ Standing with her back ramrod straight, Kai turned and bowed at Daffyd. Her face and what of her chest was visible flushed, she spoke softly. "Thank you for your assistance. I will be out shortly." And with that sentence she closed the door of the dressing room. 

Daffyd stood there collecting himself. _Wow, holy shit she is sexy! Calm down Daffyd, WAY to fast! Slow down before you scare her off._ He thought as he moved back to his seat and tried to think of anything else, to calm down the reaction seeing her in that dress caused him. 

After going through the rest of the clothing, Kai finally emerged from the dressing room wearing a new outfit. A long sleeved, button down blouse with a pointed collar, with the top 3 buttons undone, a black underbust vest, and a long black skirt. tied loosley around her neck was a scrap of fabric, recognizable as the sash she usually wore around her waist, with the emblem of the Bards College of Ragol 4 emblazoned on it.

"Well, i think this is as good as it will get for the time being. let me pay for these things and we will go." 

He smiled at her and nodded in agreement, finally calmed down enough to not feel like a horny teen anymore as he followed her to the register. "That looks good on you Kai." He said gently. 

Kai pulled the tags off the items she was wearing, and walked to the register. Dumping her armload of neatly folded garments on the counter, she handed the removed tags to the employee.  
"I will be wearing this out today." she stated. The cashier rung her up, and bagged her clothing. "Have a nice day!" She chirped. 

"You really think this looks good on me Daffyd?" 

"Yes I do, it's both elegant and flattering to your form." He told her truthfully. "Why do you ask?" 

"It just..." Kai turned away, bright red again. "I am glad that I can still fashion older styles into something new and nice." Turning around to face him, Kai beamed. "So now that I look like the college graduate I am, When do I get to meet your daughter?" 

He chuckled at her words and smiled. "Let me see when she is available." He said as he pulled out his comm unit and dialed hi daughter's personal number. 

The Comm seemed to answer and she was yelling at what seemed to be the cat."GOD DAMN IT SATAN HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THE TRASH CAN IS NOT FUCKING KITTEN FOOD YA LITTLE SHIT!" to which a soft little kitten mew responds.

"Oh Hi dad the little shit nugget decided to think the trash can was his plate. So what's up Tylar and I are trying to get ready for work." 

Daffyd chuckled. "Well Kai and I were curious when we could meet up with you." He said over the comm, looking over at Kai with a soft smile. 

Ara paused for a moment before continuing, "According to Jiles as of right now I have no meetings. Give me a couple hours to settle into work so I can have my snickers and cherry cola in peace. Also old man you sound a little husky." 

"Hehe quiet you minx, we've been talking to each other, you know getting to know each other." He replied. "Well we'll see you in a couple of hours then." 

"Mhmmm sure old man just remember she is young enough to be my daughter." Ara said before hanging up. 

Daffyd rolled his eyes and looked over to Kai. "So we have a couple of hours to kill, any ideas?" 

"Well, we could go back to your place. I forgot my towel and guitar. Then..." Kai paused in thought and swung her shopping bag around. "Is there anything interesting here?" 

"A couple bars, a couple of restaurants, several gyms, even a movie theater I think." He answered her as they walked through the shopping area. 

"A movie theater? That sounds neat. How would you feel about a movie?" Kai's eyes sparkled with glee. 

"You know I haven't seen a movie in a long time." He said with a distant voice. "Why not!" 

Kai got quiet suddenly, and lowered her face as they walked, deep in thought. _last time i saw a movie was..._ Kai shook her head violently to clear the memories. She looked up at Daffyd. _I should tell him about Javan... Someday. I don't want to scare him off. He's too good to be true._ Kai flashed a brilliant smile. 

_Damn she sure is beautiful when she smiles like that! What the hell did I ever see in Sara?! Kai is ten times the woman she is! Oh she has to be hiding something, she is VERY shy, but I don't care._ He thought as the approached the movie theater. 

Quite suddenly a bell like voice could be heard from behind the pair,"Daffyd?!" The white haired woman suddenly walked around the two and to the front of them. She was followed by two males who were twice her height as silver eyes locked onto the female. "You sir ignored my call. Your comms officer told me you were seeing Linna later."

The males chuckled at their little sister who was getting more social than usual. "How you been Daffyd and who is the lovely lady?" one of the tall males asked. 

Taken rather aback by the sudden appearance of this new person, Kai paused a moment before snapping into her Bard Training.   
"Hello Sir. My name is Kai Ix, wandering minstrel and copywriter for the Guide." Kai stuck out her hand in formal greeting. "May I ask your name?" 

The white haired male reached out his hand turning it so he could kiss the back of it. "I am Sway Scalera the other tall male is Nero Scalera. The female is Innocence Scalera. We are her guards and siblings. Pleasure to meet you Miss Kai. Though how did you get in Captain McKay's presence?"

Inny looked at her brother with a look of annoyance. She was a well known political figure since she represented currently 20 races that were endangered or functionally extinct. Her silver eyes went to the logo on her scarf .She raised a brow as she recognized the emblem. "So your name is Kai Ix you say?" 

"Yes Ma'am. Of the Ix family of Betlegeuse 5. As for how I am in the company of Mr. McKay, it was a chance meeting." Kai flashed a brilliant smile at the woman. _Wow... I never thought id get to meet the woman herself!_

Inny smiled at the grin the woman had. "Ah I was there once for a vacation. Beautiful planet. It doesn't surprise me he seems to draw people to him." She said chuckling. 

"He does seem to be magnetic. Altho, if I may be blunt, miss Innocence, the very improbable tends to happen around me." 

Daffyd smiled at Inny and hid a grimace and the spike of almost possessiveness when Sway kissed Kai's hand. _He is only being polite Daffyd, and she isn't your woman.......yet...... _He thought before he gathered himself to speak.__

__"It has been a while hasn't it Inny? I take it things are going well for you? Sway, Nero, nice to see you two again." He said in greeting. "Yeah a chance meeting indeed, you could almost say she fell into my lap in a way." He smirked a little, knowing how this would tease Kai a little. "We were just about to watch a movie before heading off to see Ara, she evidently wants to meet Kai before I go haring off into the wilds of space again, with Kai aboard as well. She wanted to travel with me, and you know things are rarely boring around me." His grin widened more. "Of course I have something for Kai to do aboard my ship so she doesn't get too bored, well besides her working on her book that is."_ _

__Kai turned a faint shade of pink at Daffyd's comment, but kept her smile on her face._ _

__Inny smiled,"Tell Linna I said hello and her stupid brother Alexander may lose his position on Mars thanks to Tylar's actions. He always had a problem with endangered races and planned to have some deported from Mars. Now I have to be on my way I have to get back to Earth for a council meeting. I just got back from Gondor." She stated. "It was nice running into you two. We will meet again."_ _

__"I will Inny, it was good seeing you again, and good luck dealing with the Council!" Daffyd said before turning to look at Kai._ _

__Innocence walked off and the boys followed her, a wide smile crossing her face. _I do hope that woman stays around for daffyd's sake.__ _

__"She's far more magnificent than the guide entries said..." Kai stared after her with stars in her eyes._ _

__"She is indeed something special." Daffyd agreed softly, then leaned over to whisper in her ear. "But so are you."_ _

__A bright red flush filled Kai's face, straight to her ears. "S...s...so you said you h...had a job role f...f...for me on your s...ship?" Kai managed to stammer out._ _

__"Well besides record keeper, I was thinking you could cook if you like, you certainly cook better than any of my crew, including myself!" He said as he gestured for them to continue to the movies._ _

__Following in step, Kai grinned. "I can do that!"_ _

__"I was hoping you would say that!" He said a little excitement and relief in his voice. "So what movie do you want to watch?"_ _

___Something romantic, that I don't have to pay attention to._ She thought darkly. "Are there any good action movies?" Kai smiled and bit her cheek to still her tongue. _ _

__Daffyd looked over the selection and grimaced. "Comedy, comedy, horror, horror, romance, documentary." He read off aloud. "Yeah no action films."_ _

__"How about horror?" Kai grinned at Daffyd. _Did i really just suggest a scary movie? I scare easily, why would i have... Oh. Oh crap.. Stupid subconscious!_ Kai berated herself internally. _ _

__Daffyd smiled. "Okay, horror it is." He replied as he bought two tickets for the horror movie. _Wonder if by the end she'll be virtually in my lap with fright? Did she plan this?_ He thought as they entered the theater. _ _

__Entering the darkened theater Kai looked around to find the best seats. "Daffyd, lets sit in the middle."_ _

__"Of course Kai." Daffyd said as he led her to the center of the mostly empty theater._ _

__Taking her seat, the movie started. With each jump scare presented, Kai pulled closer to Daffyd, and by the end of the movie, it almost seemed like she had left finger indents in his arm, and had spent most of the movie with her head buried in his shoulder._ _

__Upon leaving the theater, Kai turned to Daffyd and placed a kiss on his cheek.  
"Thank you, this was actually quite fun." _ _

__Daffyd grinned as he recalled the movie and what happened. "Yes it was, shall we go meet my daughter?"_ _

__Kai dug through her pack looking for her guide. Once she made sure it was there she looked at Daffyd. "Yes. Lets!"_ _


	5. Take a Deep Breath, and Relax

Ara had been settled in her office eating a snickers thinking about her highly forbidden relationship with the CO of the entire base. She bit her lip as she scrolled through paperwork on her Comm. She sighed as she commed Jiles,"I'm expecting old man and his new whatever the hell she is any moment."  
"Miss McKay are you alright?"  
"I'm fine Jiles. Well I will be it was a rough night for me." Ara lied through her teeth.  
_I wonder what tylar is up to._  
~*~*~*~  
Daffyd and Kai walked into the initial office where Jiles was. "Hey Jiles, is Ara in?" Daffyd asked politely. 

The male looked up from his datapad,"She is available she been playing goat simulator since she got in." He opened the door to Ara office. 

"Thanks Jiles." Daffyd said with a wave as he escorted Kai into Ara's domain with a wide grin. 

Ara looked up from her desk with a yawn,"Bout time you two got here. Both of you have a seat." Her tone seemed cold but that was just how she was when it came to her old man safety. She came to a stand as she bit into a Snickers bar 

Daffyd rolled his eyes and sat Kai down on the couch before sitting next to her and looked up at Ara with a twinkle in his eyes. 

"Miss McKay, it is a pleasure to meet you properly. Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Kai Ix, of the Betlegeuse 5 Ix family. Wandering minstrel of 2nd rank from Ragol Bards College, and Copywriter for 'The Guide'." Kai smiled warmly and extended her hand in formal greeting. 

Ara simply stared at the woman's hand as she pulled up what seemed to be footage of her being chased the night prior. She then sat back down as the hologram played it. "You broke into my father's home. I am damn surprised he didn't kill you. Now why were you running? If you so much as lie to me you're not stepping a single foot onto my father' ship."

She then paused as she folded her hands in an eerily similar fashion as Tylar did when he was being serious. 

Daffyd sighed and shook his head. "I do leave my door unlocked more often than not you know." he muttered. 

Kai smiled tensley and retracted her hand. "A spacer propositioned me to play him a song. He offered to pay. So I sang my song, and when I was done, he approached me in a way I was not welcoming of. I kneed him in the groin, and he sicced his cronies on me. I was having a hard time outrunning them, so I ducked into the nearest doorway, attempting to hide, hoping they would run past. The door opened behind me, unceremoniously dumping me into what I now know to be your fathers apartment. It was there that he found me." Kai kept eye contact through her entire story, so that Ara might see the truth. 

Ara studied the woman's body as she spoke. Once the woman finished Ara held her hand up. "Fine I believe you. Now why do you want to travel with my old man? Also Jesus Christ woman do you know how not to smile it's fucking blinding." She was teasing as a twinkle in her eye was apparent 

_Thank the God Emperor! She isn't going to kill the first woman I've ever expressed an interest in!_ Daffyd thought with relief. 

"Your father is a trader. He travels far and wide, and if I accompany him, I can explore more of the universe, so that I may fulfill my family obligation to add entries to the book." _And stop hitchhiking..._ She thought happily.

Ara nodded,"Fine. However if you ever hurt my old man that will be the end of your life understood? Also old man does more than trading.” Turning her focus to Daffyd, she spoke sharply. “Now old man I just informed your crew that you have the go ahead to leave base when you wish.” Looking back at Kai, she leveled a stare at her. “You got it alot easier than his other crew mates, young lady." 

Kai bowed. "I hope to kindle a friendship with you miss McKay. And I'll not hurt your father. You have my word as a bard." Kai smiled gently. 

"As if you could truly stop me from leaving if I wanted to without breaking the law." Daffyd muttered before he smiled. "I was thinking of doing some trading in the shell or verge this time. Well we'll leave you to your obviously overwhelming load of work Ara." Daffyd said with a smirk as he stood up, gently tugging on Kai's hand. 

Kai smiled and waved at Ara and followed Daffyd out of the office. 

As the two left Ara chuckled softly. The girl didn't get away with all niceties. She dialed the comms officer on her old man ship and once he answered she spoke,"Make sure That Kai woman isn't alone with my old man period. That even means in the bedroom dumbass." 

As Daffyd and Kai left Ara's office, he waved at Jiles. Once they were out of easy listening distance he glanced over at her. _Damn she is beautiful._ He thought. "So shall we celebrate you passing the test of my daughter's approval for you being around me?" He asked her softly. 

Kai grinned. "Sure. What did you have in mind?" 

"I was thinking of this wonderful restaurant called Dempsey's, it's a fairly classy, but very good quality restaurant here on the station." He recommended. 

_Classy?_ Kai thought worriedly "Do they have a dress code? I hope I have something appropriate." 

"Well there is always the dress you picked up today." He slyly suggested as he led the way back to his quarters. "It does have somewhat of a dress code, but it also has a bar attached to the VERY nice restaurant, I haven't been to either for a few years, but I have never heard anything bad about them." He told her. 

"It's worth a look then." Kai smiled gracefully. 

As they entered Daffyd's apartment he smiled at her. "I'll call in the reservation, then grab a shower. If you're wearing that dress let me know, I believe I have a suit that would match it." He said as his hand lay on her upper arm. 

"I will get myself cleaned up then." Kai turned and went to her room to start preparing. 

Daffyd quickly made the reservation then hopped in the shower. 

~*~*~*~

Kai stared at the dress, laid out across the bed. _Kai, you remember his reaction to this dress, are you really ready to try that again?_ Kai smiled. "Maybe i am ready. I'll never know till I try." She said softly to herself. 

Daffyd came out of his room in a suit and tie, clean shaven and ready. _Gods I am so nervous about this dinner!_ He thought. _Is she going to ask me to zip that dress again? Can I resist the temptation to caress her if she does?_ He thought as he waited in the living room. 

Kai shimmied into the dress. She groaned slightly, and walked out of the room. "Daffyd, I need you to zip this thing up again." 

Daffyd gulped as he saw her in that dress, and the large amount of her skin it showed. "No problem Kai." He said softly as he tried to hide how much seeing her affected him as he came up to her and his hands went into auto pilot. He zipped the dress up with one hand, and the other caressed her under the guise of making sure the zipper didn't catch. When he finished he forced himself to step back from her, despite his instincts saying to mold himself to her and wrap his arms around her. 

Kai smiled. "Thank you. I'll be back out shortly." With that she returned to her room to finish getting ready. 

Daffyd sighed. _Damn that was close, I wanted to just hold her and kiss her till we were out of breath. I haven't felt like this about a woman in WAY too long._ He thought as he waited for her to come out. 

A pair of black leggings, her boots, and a silver armlet completed her outfit, and after twisting her hair back into a french roll, she emerged from the room. 

Daffyd's jaw dropped when he saw her and he couldn't stop staring at the vision of loveliness before him.

"So beautiful." He said barely loud enough for her to hear. 

Kai turned a shade of pink, all the way to her ears. "W...w...well then, s...shall we go?" 

Daffyd blinked at hearing her voice and mentally shook himself. He held out his arm for her and grinned at her. "Of course My Lady. Are you ready to make everyone green with envy?" 

"W...well, I'm not sure about envy, but I am looking forward to a meal I didn't cook." a tinkly laugh left her lips, and her eyes sparkled with joy. 

As they left his quarters he smiled at her laughter. "Trust me Kai, women will be envious by how stunning you are in that dress, and men will be envious that I'm with you and not them." He told her as they walked through the corridors. Sure enough as they drew nearer to Dempsey's, more and more people stared at the couple. When they arrived Daffyd smiled at the hostess.

"Table for two, for McKay." He told her.

She checked her tablet and smiled. "Of course sir, please follow me."


	6. The food is Good, the Company Better

The hostess led them into the restaurant portion of the establishment, and passed a wide variety of tables. The people sitting there were about as dressed as they were, though some of the women glared at Kai for looking as good as she did. The hostess led them to the back area and to a VERY private booth for two. She placed menus down and smiled at the two. 

"Please have a seat and I hope you enjoy your meal." She said. As she left she whispered to Kai. "You are so lucky!" 

"You have no idea" she whispered back. Turning to Daffyd she smiled "You are looking pretty dapper yourself, Mr. McKay" kai looked carefully at her dinner companion, appreciative of how well Daffyd cleaned up. _He is really very attractive_

Daffyd blushed lightly, not used to being complimented on his looks as he smiled at her. "But I pale in comparison to your beauty Kai." He said softly in reply, having trouble looking at the menu as he gazed at her. 

Kai looked up at Daffyd through her eyelashes. "What is good here? Im looking at the chicken, but what looks good to you?" 

"I usually enjoy the steak, but I have heard the chicken is very good," he answered as he forced his eyes on the menu. "Their wine selection is excellent as well." 

"Im no good at picking wine, so I'll let you choose that. I think I'll get the chicken. That sounds good." Kai folded her menu, and began playing with the corner of her napkin. 

A waitress came up to receive their order. Daffyd ordered for them both, he picked a nice white for her, and a robust red for himself. He smiled at her after the waitress left and openly gazed at her, being obvious as his eyes roamed over her body in that dress, his attraction to her physically very obvious.

"So anything you'd like to know?" He asked softly. 

Kai looked up at Daffyd. "You mentioned Sarah earlier, was she the girlfriend that left you for a Terran punk?" 

Daffyd looked down at the table. "Yeah she was, I had thought we had something special, but it seems she was just after money." He said with a sigh. 

"Daffyd... How long ago was that?" _he seems... Tense. Like a wire stretched to the breaking point._ She thought, analyzing the posture he held himself with.

"It's been about ten or fifteen years I think." He said slowly as if in a dream or memory. 

_Ten or fifteen YEARS? Oh goddess of stars, and I’ve chosen to go out with him dressed like THIS!? Poor Daffyd, no wonder he keeps making passes at me! And I keep egging him on... Goddess forgive me!_ Kai thought for a moment, then spoke up quietly. "You've been without companionship that long?" 

Daffyd shrugged. "I haven't had much luck in that department. Between my travels and deals, and the fact that I'm a bit rough around the edges according to most people due to my opinions and willingness to get my hands dirty in nasty ways, I evidently don't appeal to most women." He responded. "You're like a breath of fresh air, and so beautiful in more than just your body in that dress." 

"I think you aren't giving yourself enough credit, Daffyd. Although, what do you mean about being willing to get your hands dirty?" She asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer.

"I'm not afraid to be on personal combat, nor afraid to kill someone if I have to." He said bleakly. "That is what usually ends up driving most women off right there, the blood that stains these hands." He said, holding his hands up for her to see. 

Kai reached out and grabbed Daffyd's hands. "I don't see any blood on your hands, I only see determination and strength." Kai looked him straight in the eyes, and grinned. 

Daffyd smiled at her and shifted his hands to hold hers. "Funny I was thinking the same thing about the wonderful woman before me as well." He told her. 

Kai looked down and pulled her hands back "My past is no where near as complex as yours, I am nothing special. Just your run of the mill innocent." 

He reached out and caressed her face. "You're something special to me." He said softly. 

"You barely know me, Daffyd. How can you say that. You haven't even known me for 24 hours. Your daughter was right to be suspicious. I could be trouble, you just don't know." Kai looked down sadly. 

"You're right, I have barely known you, and you could indeed be trouble." He said, leaning back with a serious face. "But I'm willing to take that chance with you, if you're willing to take that chance with me." He said softly and hopefully. "Trouble has followed me like the plague for most of my life. I've been in one life threatening situation after another. Been nearly killed more times than I care to think about, and lost more people I have cared about than is probably healthy for me mentally, and yet I find that the idea of spending more time with you, getting to know you better and helping you reach your goals, it excites me like crazy!" 

"Then its a deal!" Kai held up her hand with her pinky extended. "Im willing." 

Daffyd smiled and extended his hand and linked his pinkie with hers. "I think this is the start of something wonderful." He said softly. 

Kai beamed and linked her pinky around his. "I hope so. Goddess of stars, I want it to be." Kai couldn't stop the words before they tumbled out of her mouth. Her face and ears flushed bright red. 

Daffyd's smile widened as he leaned back just as their food and wine arrived, a full bottle for each of them. After the waitress left he gazed at her.

"So tell me a little more about yourself. You seemed sad and worried when I said I was interested in being with you." He asked confidently, without a hint of him being upset at her reaction. 

"O...oh. That. W...well, I..." kai stammered. "I am worried you'll stop liking me, because I'm so young, because I'm an innocent... Because... I'm... ... Broken." Kai looked away in shame. 

Daffyd raised an eyebrow. "Kai, honey, we live in an age where people live four centuries, what's a century between adults? As for innocent, you've seen death, albeit in your dreams, but true death, you aren't THAT innocent, unless you mean in the bedroom, and that doesn't bother me either. I am confused as to why you think you're broken though." He said softly as he gently reached across the table to turn her to look at him, kindness and concern for her clear in his eyes. 

"My... My only relationship ended... Poorly. About a week ago to be precise." Kai looked at Daffyd, and tried to smile. 

"But how does that make YOU broken my dear? If anyone is broken between us it's me." He said wryly as he caressed her cheek. 

"He told me he loved me. I gave him my heart. And he used me. I was naive... And i don't know if i can actually love. I am not even sure what love is." Kai tried to avoid eye contact. 

"Would you like to know more about me Kai?" He asked as he gently put pressure against her cheek so he could look her in the eye, but not forcing her to move her head. 

"It, might help... I don't know. I'm not sure about any of this." Kai pulled away from his hand and started poking at her food. "To be honest, I feel like I'm in very deep water with no flotation devices." 

Daffyd chuckled lightly. "I know how you feel, of the six women I've been with only one did I think I loved, and she left me for my cousin back when I was your age." He sighed. "I'm as in the dark about love as you are, and this is as much new territory for me as it is you. I'm not looking for a one night stand, and neither are you I'm thinking." He said. "All we can do is move forward together and see what happens, if it looks like US won't work, hopefully we can still be friends at least." He leaned away from her, giving her space as he started to cut his steak slowly. 

"I think i could live with that, if Us... Whatever Us is, doesn't work." _US? Kai, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING! Javan ended a week ago, and here you are jumping into something else? Remember Ara's warning?_ Kai took a small bite of food and chewed thoughtfully. 

_Gods I hope this works out, I'm tired of being alone, but I don't want to scare her off, she seems so uncertain. I'll let her take the lead in this, she knows I'm interested, that's enough for now._ He thought as he started to eat dinner. "So food is pretty good eh?" He asked her, changing the subject for now. 

"It's not bad. The chicken could use some different seasoning, but this is rather tasty." Kai took a sip of wine. "So, I propose we play a game. Answer for answer. We each ask questions, and give answers in turn. Sound fun?" 

"Sure does, ladies first." Daffyd said with a smile. 

"No. I already asked a question it's your turn." Kai leveled a stare at Daffyd and waited. 

"Okay, what is your biggest dream separate from your family book?" He asked her as he sipped his wine. 

Kai Smiled "writing actually isn't a dream for me. Just a job. My real dream is to sail the stars, explore, learn all I can, and learn all the music I can." Kai's eyes sparkled as she started babbling a bit. "Music is a universal constant. Every culture has some form of music. Some cultures use it as expression. Others as communication. Its one of the few things all species have in common. Even the monsters of Ragol 2 had their own type of music. The Dragons would sing to their young to teach them. Even the bees of Terra had their own music. It's absolutely... Everywhere..." Kai faded off and looked down. "Sorry. Babbling again." 

"No no, it's okay! It's great to have a dream like that and to be so passionate about it!" Daffyd said with a wistful smile. 

Kai looked up. "Turn about is fair play. Do you have any dreams or passions you pursue?" another bite of food found its way to Kai's mouth. 

"I do indeed. Growing up it was to serve the greater part of humanity, which is why I joined the Marines and eventually became a naval officer. Now my dream is to continue to explore the stars as a merchant, still helping people but in a different way, defending what is mine, providing and protecting my loved ones. Eventually marry and have a family of my own as well." He said with a wistful smile as he ate. 

"Well then there's a commonality between us right there! We are both interested in exploring. Your dream sounds very noble." Kai smiled at him. 

"Thank you. Before I expressed my interest in you, and the one relationship that ended badly, how many other relationships have you been in?" He asked, almost hesitantly, obviously curious but also not wanting to hurt her. 

Kai turned pink "none, to be honest. Javan was my first relationship. Ever." 

Daffyd winced slightly. "I hope I can be a MUCH better companion/boyfriend for you than him." He said softly. 

Kai smiled subtly. _I don't have much of a basis for comparison..._ she thought bitterly. Kai thoughtfully chewed another morsel of food, and then turned beet red as her next question popped into her head. "Daffyd, if you don't want to answer this one you don't have to, but how many other people have you been... I...i...Intimate... With?" 

Daffyd looked at her carefully as he chewed his steak, a light blush creeping up his neck. "For you I don't mind." He said slowly. "I've only been with three women all told, two one night stands where we were both drunk as hell, and one serious relationship that fell apart." He said, his blush creeping up higher as he normally didn't talk about his almost nonexistent sex life, even with Ara. 

_Wow, only 3? From the way he acts, you'd think he has more... Not that I'm one to talk..._ "Thats actually pretty awesome. I mean, you aren't easy to get in bed. Thats a good quality in a person!" Kai smiled warmly, and took a sip of wine. 

"Thank you." He said as his smile came out. "I won't ask the same question in return as I think I know the answer to that one given how you have reacted to some of my teasing. So my question......... If you could never see your family again because of your travels, would that be okay with you?" He asked slowly and curiously, knowing how much family meant to him. 

Kai stopped for a moment. She hadn't really thought about that facet. "Well, since mom and great grandpa are the only family left, no, I would not be ok never seeing them again. I know I'm a little peeved that I have this family burden now, but to never see mum or grampa prax..." Kai shook her head, fighting back tears. "I wouldn't be ok never seeing my family again." 

Daffyd held out his hand to her. "I promise you I would never keep you from seeing your family. Family is too important to me for me to do that to someone I'm with." He told her reassuringly. 

Kai smiled. "Thank you Daffyd." suddenly a chiming noise came from Kai's bag. Her face contorted in a strange mix of dread and annoyance. "Sorry, I need to look at this." pulling the guide from her bag, she tapped a few buttons, and read the text displayed. Her face softened, and tears filled her eyes. Looking up from her data pad, Kai locked eyes with Daffyd. "Well, I guess our conversation was fortunate. I must ask, may I Hire your ship for official Ix family business? There will be compensation for this, of course." 

"You mean besides your lovely company?" He asked with a teasing tone. "Well the merchant in me could hardly turn that down! Now my question, how are your mother and great grandfather going to react to you bringing home a boyfriend?" He grinned as he asked the question with a wink. 

Kai grinned thinly. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, this is your contract." Kai hit a few more buttons, and handed the guide to Daffyd. Displayed upon the screen was a letter.

'To whom it may concern,  
My name is Hexaclara Ix. This contract is a request of transport of precious goods from their current location to myself, on Betlegeuse 5. If transport of goods is complete within 7 days, and goods are undamaged upon delivery, payment of your choosing will be warranted. Please speak to the bearer of this contract for further details.' 

Daffyd's jaw dropped open upon reading the message. "ANYTHING?!" He literally squeaked out, not expecting that kind of an open ended contract. 

Kai nodded grimly. _I suppose this is as good a test as any, if hes only interested in my family fortune, this will be the proving... _"My mother doesn't take my safety lightly. Hence why she sent me this contract. That I may find my own transport, and not have to hitchhike home for dads funeral."__

__"Okay, I have no issue with taking you home to your family for a funeral. Hell of a time to meet the rest of your family though." He said softly after he recovered. He looked down as if thinking._ _

__"Betelgeuse 5 eh? That's at most a two maybe three day trip from Sol at my best speed. Would that be okay?" He asked her._ _

__"It's within 7 days, it will complete the contract, and is therefore acceptable" a sharp, business coldness permeated Kai's words. Her eyes reflected sadness._ _

__He then grinned madly. "Then I'll do it pro bono." He told her confidently._ _

__Kai looked at Daffyd, shock registering in her mind. "While I appreciate the offer, my mother will insist on compensating you. So be prepared to have an answer for her." kai grinned then. _Here's hoping he sticks to what he says.__ _

__"If your mother insists, she will find out how stubborn a Catachan can be. I don't need money for taking you home to bury your dad." He said with a subtle wink at her._ _

__"Oh goddess." Kai groaned. "You and my mother would be locked in debate for DAYS from the sound of things." Kai smiled sweetly, and finished off the last bite of her food. "Although, we should probably leave for Betlegeuse as soon as possible. I would like time to visit with mother before Father's funeral." Kai plucked her napkin from her lap and folded it neatly to the side of the plate, finished her glass of wine, and smiled at Daffyd. "So is this dinner your treat or mine?"_ _

__"We can leave as soon as tomorrow if that's okay?" He said then looked thoughtful. "Tonight's dinner is on me, as you're my guest, and you did make breakfast this morning." He answered her._ _

__Kai looked at him,her business brain ticking quickly. "I must, sadly, decline your offer. You paid for us at the movies, and to be honest, making you breakfast was payment for saving my hide yesterday. I must politely insist that I pick up this dinner, as to balance the board once again."_ _

__Daffyd grinned as he mentally rubbed his hands, detecting a fellow merchant behind that playful exterior. "Oh but I insist, it's the man's duty to cover the tab during a Date after all, is it not?" He asked her with a wicked grin._ _

__"It is hardly a 'Mans Job' as how would that then apply to women going on dates with other women? And at no point in this adventure was it discussed that this was a date, so your argument is rendered invalid. A date implies that both parties are aware of the nature of the event, and as I recall, this is a celebratory dinner in light of me passing your daughters inspection to become one of your crew, for however long it might be. It would be wise instead to allow me to pay the tab for this, as you do need to make sure your ship is prepared for a long journey." Kai leaned back in her chair, looking quite pleased with her sound argument._ _

__"Oh pish, you over estimate how long it will take to prep for this short little jaunt. And while I will grant you the fact about a date, my own mother would rise up from the grave and whack me upside the head, then grab your ear and give us BOTH an earful if I DARED to let such a lovely, and blessed, woman to pay for our dinner the first time we had one together!" He said with a light shudder._ _

__Kai deflated only very slightly. "Well then, a compromise. You may pay the bill, but I insist on leaving a tip." Kai looked at daffyd and smiled warmly. _My he is a strong man. he will need to be stronger to hold up against my mother if he intends to take this contract for free.__ _

__"How about an even further compromise, because I like you so much, next time we go out, you can pay for the meal and I will tip, is that acceptable?" He asked with a wide grin and a twinkle in his eyes. _And when I meet your mother, I'll bargain for the right to court you and have you in my crew._ He thought. _ _

__Kai grinned back. "That sounds acceptable." _A counter offer to a compromise? Perhaps he will be stronger opposition for my mother than i thought._ Kai raised her hand and flagged down the waitress. "May we have our check please?" _ _

__Daffyd smiled happily as they waited for the check. His gaze inadvertently wandering over her lovely body, unable to resist looking at her more, now that dinner was almost done._ _

__Upon the arrival of the check, Kai looked at the bill total, and then handed the meal ticket to Daffyd. Pulling the money for a tip from her bag, she tucked it under a plate, and on an afterthought, took a scrap of paper from her bag as well and wrote a note on it. she then folded the note, and tied it in a bow around the tip money, and placed it in the center of the table. "Ready when you are Mr. McKay."_ _

__Daffyd easily paid for the meal then stood and came around to politely help her out of her seat, trying manfully not to stare at her cleavage that the dress displayed at that angle. When he heard her call him Mr. McKay he gave an internal grimace, then grinned as he whispered huskily in her ear, his hot breath against her skin. "I insist that you call me Daffyd when we're relaxing together dear Kai."_ _

__Standing up elegantly, she leaned up to whisper back into his ear "But you look so nice with your feathers a bit ruffled." Kai grinned wickedly before her brain caught up to her. _What in the heavens was that?_ Hurridly gathering her things, Kai cleared her throat softly and held out her hand to Daffyd. "Shall we go then, Daffyd?" She purred his name out, much to her own shock. _What has come over me?!_ A pink flush settled over her cheeks and to the tips of her ears. _ _

__He shuddered in pleasure at the anticipation in her voice as he took her hand and briefly brought it up to his lips to give her hand a sensual and promise filled kiss, before he tucked it properly in to his elbow before they started walking back to his place. "Yes dear Kai, let's go home." He answered huskily._ _

__The walk to Daffyd's apartment was quiet, and the base seemed to be quieting down. Kai caught herself looking at the reflection they cast in the windows and control panels as they walked past. _My, but we do look nice together. Maybe i do actually want this, and this isn’t just hurt feelings after the demise of a 5 year relationship._ They reached the apartment, and She waited for him to open the door. _ _

__Daffyd opened the door to his apartment and bowed to her, waving her inside his humble home. "My Lady."_ _

__Kai giggled and walked into the apartment. "You don’t have to treat me so formally you know." Kai smiled happily. "But thank you for a wonderful evening." Kai turned and began to walk to her room._ _

__As he followed her in he cleared his throat. "Kai, are you forgetting something about your dress?" He asked innocently._ _

__"Oh bugger. Would you mind unzipping this cursed thing?" Kai stopped in her tracks, back to Daffyd._ _

__Daffyd walked up to her and sensually unzipped the back of her dress, then he leaned around her and kissed her cheek before whispering in her ear huskily. "Good night beautiful."_ _

__"G... Good night... Daffyd." Kai whispered before hurrying to her room._ _

__Once she was in her room, and had a closed door between her and Daffyd, she fished her ticket stub from the depths of her bag and stuffed it into her billfold. "Today was fun. Thank you Daffyd." she whispered softly. stepping out of her clothes, Kai grabbed the shirt Daffyd had loaned her and threw it on. She then pulled out her guide and her digi-pen. Sitting down on the bed, she began to write in the guide. When she finished her entry, she buried herself in the bed and soon fell into a blissfully dreamless sleep._ _


	7. Space... and lots of it!

Daffyd lay in bed the next morning with a huge smile on his face. _I hope there are more days like yesterday in the future for me. Kai is a joy to be around, I'm sure we'll fight eventually, but why worry._ He thought as he got up and dressed and left to see if she was up. 

Kai woke up with her towel tangled around her neck. After untangling her towel, bleary eyed, and wearing naught more than Daffyd's t-shirt and her undergarments, she walked out of her room to the bathroom. 

As Daffyd walked out he saw Kai leave her room and his jaw dropped a little at how unbelievably sexy she looked in just his t-shirt from what he could see. 'How did she not see me?' He thought. 

"Good morning Kai." He called to her as he stood there in a pair of sweat pants and that's it. 

"Morn'ng" was Kai's mumbled reply as she walked into the bathroom. Shucking her clothes, she climbed into the shower to get ready for the journey ahead. 

Daffyd shook his head with a light chuckle. _She didn't sleep too well last night. Was it something I did?_ He thought with a wicked grin while he moved to the kitchen to fix a simple scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and coffee breakfast for them both. 

After her shower and toweling off, Kai emerged from the bathroom, and stopped in the middle of the hallway and stared at Daffyd in the kitchen. "D...Daffyd? Why are you up so early? Why are you cooking?" 

Daffyd looked over his shoulder to see her in just a towel, her clothes in hand and his small smile grew into a large one.

"Oh I slept wonderfully last night, best sleep in years! So I figured I'd make us a simple breakfast oh sexy one." He replied, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at her before turning back to the stove. "Coffee should be ready soon too my dear." 

Staring confusedly kai backed into her room. "Right. I... I'm gonna get dressed now. Ill be back soon."

Once in her room, she put her traveling clothes on, and exited the room and took a seat at the table. 

After she sat down he brought out two plates with eggs bacon and toast, then went back for the pot of coffee, mugs and cream and sugar.

"I hope you like it, it's been a while since I cooked for someone else." He said sheepishly with a light blush. 

Kai took her eggs and bacon and made herself a breakfast sandwich using the toast. Taking a huge bite, she smiled happily and after chewing and swallowing, Kai turned to Daffyd. "You make a killer breakfast Daffyd!" she exclaimed, and took another bite. 

Daffyd blushed at the compliment as he ate his breakfast. "Thank you Kai. Did you sleep okay?" He asked, a note of concern in his voice. 

"I'm not sure. I didn't dream, but I don’t feel rested." Kai took a swig of black coffee and grinned. "But the caffeine is helping. Thank you!" 

"No problem, so are you packing the clothes you bought, or are you leaving them here?" He asked her 

"Ill leave them here. I have a full wardrobe at home, and ill actually be bringing some of those clothes back, so I don't need to waste space with unnecessary clothes." Kai smiled and sipped her coffee. _Although, I am absolutely bringing that dress with me._

"No problem here either way." He said with a smile. _She wants to stay here, this is good._ He thought. "We'll be heading out here in about an hour, I just need to drop a message off for Ara to let her know I'm disappearing for a while again." 

"Ok. I should respond to my mom and let her know I have hired a ride home." Kai stood up and gathered the dishes. "You cooked, I’ll clean." 

Daffyd smiled and held his hands up in surrender to her demand, in too good a mood to try to convince her otherwise. 

"I'm going to go get dressed then and send Ara that message." 

Kai grinned and washed up the dishes quickly and made sure everything in the apartment looked good, so that upon return, it would be pristine. 

Daffyd walked out of his room with a bemused look on his face. He saw Kai standing there and grinning and he smiled as well as he came up to her and tried like hell to resist the urge to wrap his arms around her. 

"Everything go ok with your daughter Daffyd?" Kai smiled at the condition of the apartment. 

"Yup, for now, I think she needs a vacation though." He replied. "Shall we get going?" He asked as he stepped closer to her. 

"Yeah, we should go. Space is waiting, right?" Kai linked her arm with Daffyd's. "Is everything ready for departure?" Kai grabbed her guitar, towel, and bag. 

"Of course, my ship is at your command, My Lady." He said grandly as he escorted her to his ship. 

Switching to her business face Kai looked at Daffyd. "I assume my lodgings are up to par?" 

"Right next to mine actually, the second best aboard ship......" He trailed off. "Unless you want to stay with me in mine." He continued with a wink 

"My own lodgings will suffice." _Though I would love to lodge with you..._ She thought slyly. "Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. McKay. I look forward to our joint venture." 

"As do I Ms. Ix, as do I, and the pleasure is all mine." He smiled at her and gently squeezed her hand as they came within sight of his ship. 

"Yay!" Kai grinned happily "so we've finished with the formal junk, right? Cuz this is the first space flight I haven't had to hitchhike!" 

He chuckled as he escorted her down the boarding tube. "Yes we are done my dear." He smiled as they entered his ship. 

"Frank get us undocked and moving for the hyper limit, I'm going to show our guest around." He said to the man who met them aboard the ship.

"Roger captain. Have fun." He replied with a wink.

"Shall we?" Daffyd asked Kai. 

"We shall. Can I watch from the bridge when we go?" 

"Of course, let's start with your quarters and then we'll show you the bridge, then the observation lounge, which is the best view, our bridge is in the center of the ship because it's the best protected area." He answered her as he led her into his ship. 

Kai followed along merrily, taking in All the sights and sounds of the ship. "You know, of All the ships I've been on, i think i like yours the best! Its not a flying deathtrap!" 

Daffyd laughed loudly. "Thank you, my crew are all former Navy so we run a tight ship. It's very well maintained and it's very well protected and armed." He told her as he came to a stop. "Here are your quarters." He said as he opened the door to show her a very well appointed suite of rooms, about what one might expect from a first class set of quarters aboard a passenger liner. 

"Wow, Daffyd... You sure this is a trader vessel? You look like you're running a cruise liner! I only hope I can do my part to help this ship run smoothly." 

Daffyd chuckled. "I had very specific requests when they built my ship, here let me show you my quarters." He said. 

"Okay!" Kai followed along happily, enjoying the fact that she didn't have to skulk around the ship. 

Daffyd smiled as they moved down the corridor a few handful of meters and he opened the door there. It revealed a suite rooms fit for an ambassador or head of state. The furniture matched the size in quality, without being over the top. "So what do you think?" He whispered in her ear his hands on her hips as he stood behind her. 

Kai was floored. Never before had she seen such a lovely room, "It's very... fancy. Not quite something I would have expected from You, to be honest." 

"A gift from the builder, for saving his daughter's life from pirates, and he wouldn't take no for an answer. Only use its seen is me passing out in it." He whispered in her ear, his hands kneading her hips and she could feel the heat from his body. _Gods I WANT her._ He thought, trying to hold back. 

Her voice uncharacteristically low and throaty, Kai pressed back into Daffyd. "Such a shame." As a bright red worked its way up her neck and tinted her ears. 

Daffyd groaned into her ear as she pressed against him, and she felt his reaction growing stiff between her ass cheeks as his hands wrapped around her, stopping to lay above her crotch while he nibbled on her neck. "Gods you're sexy." He said huskily to her. 

Kai turned around in his arms and stared up at Daffyd. "And YOU are pushy. I want to see the ship launch! You promised!" And with that, Kai ducked out of his arms, and began walking down the hallway purposely, trying to figure out where to go for the observation lounge he mentioned. 

Daffyd groaned and then smiled. "Yes I did, you wonderful woman you." He said when he caught up to her and guided her to the topside lounge. 

As soon as they entered the lounge, Kai was glued to the observation windows, staring out at the stars and taking in all the sights. "It's beautiful!" 

Daffyd sat on one of the small couches with a chuckle as the ship started to move slowly on thrusters alone. "Yes it is, but wait till you see the main drive light off." He told her. A fact that was interesting as the observation lounge was near the bow of the ship, just aft of a weird hammerhead like bow area with a ring of what looked like bumps that circled the round ship. 

"Main... Drive?" Kai looked at what of the ship she could see from her vantage point curiously. 

"Yup, it should be starting up here any second." He said and sure enough the area above her head, the stars that were visible red shifted suddenly and they started to streak past the window, as if the ship was accelerating at a very high speed, yet she felt no change in the gravity of the ship. 

"Goddess of stars! This ship is amazing!" Kai sat down on the floor and leaned back, enjoying the zoom of the stars. 

"Top quality, cutting edge technology." Daffyd said proudly from where he sat. "It'll still be about four hours until we will be able to enter hyperspace." 

"Wait... this isn't hyper-drive?" Kai was floored 

"No love, this is normal space, we're traveling at roughly...." He trailed off and looked at the red shifted stars for a few seconds. "Roughly 325 gravities of acceleration right now. Hyperspace is a trip though, beauty of the cosmos type things." 

"Will we be in hyperspace for the trip home?" 

"For most of the trip actually." He answered her. "Sit Kai, get comfortable!" 

Kai stood up, found a chair, and sat down. Pulling out her guitar, she began to pluck the strings slowly, building a slow, sweet melody. Her plucking grew stronger and then she started to sing.

"I counted the stars tonight,  
Oh how they shine so bright,  
I gather them all, so we perfectly align  
While we gaze from far away.  
And separately watch the day  
Come rising across the horizon in our minds.

I have waited a thousand years,  
And now that tomorrow's here,  
I will shout from the mountain top  
Our hearts belong near.  
And we've traveled land and sea,  
Our beacon the love we keep,  
But when we unite,  
This will all have been our dream.

And now we know,  
Our hearts are strong,  
Where we belong  
Is side by side.  
And so we'll hold  
Each other close,  
And in our souls  
We're standing by." 

Daffyd smiled softly as she finished. "That song was almost as beautiful as the one singing it." He told her as he gazed at her silhouetted against the stars as the ship moved closer to the hyper limit. 

Kai blushed furiously bright. "I'm glad you thought so." Kai looked down at her guitar as she continued to pick notes out.


	8. Home sweet... Home?

As they sat there for the next four hours, Daffyd had to field one message from Shield Base. As they drew near the hyper limit Daffyd stood and walked over to where she was sitting and held out his hand to her. 

Taking Daffyd's hand, Kai stood up. "Is it time? Are we going to see hyperspace?" 

Daffyd nodded and slowly turned her around, keeping his hands on her shoulders as he leaned forward so she could hear his soft voice. "Almost, we have about 15 seconds till we hyper out." He said softly, his breath tickling her left ear and neck. 

Kai shuddered slightly, and stared out the window, waiting eagerly for the jump. 

All of a sudden the ship gave a slight lurch, Daffyd's grip the only thing keeping Kai in place, and the universe fell away from a black starscape into a swirling kaleidoscope of colors that moved about the ship in random patterns. Just in front of them Kai could see an azure blue disk of crackling energy that surrounded the bow of the ship just behind the hammerhead, extending out as far as her unassisted eye could see. 

Kai was speechless. Never before had she seen something so beautiful as hyperspace. She turned to face Daffyd, eyes lit up and sparkling, grin wide. 

He smiled at her, his own eyes expressing the joy he had at seeing such a sight. _Gods I want to kiss her so badly, too fast, there is a difference between teasing each other and what that entails Daffyd lad_ he thought, but it was so very difficult for him to resist. 

Kai stretched up and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for showing me this Daffyd. I am impressed your crew was able to handle launch without you there." 

The blush that spread across his face was as obvious as the blue disk behind her. He gently cleared his throat and smiled at her.

"My crew could actually run this ship without me entirely, we're together because we all served together. Hell my XO was a destroyer captain before he joined me, so I know my ship is in good hands." He told her. "So it's two and a half days to your home from here, shall I show you the kitchen and my office?" 

"Yes please." Kai hopped up and down with excitement to see her new play area. 

Daffyd chuckled at her excitement and led her to his office first, which, compared to his quarters, was down right Spartan. He then led her to the very well appointed kitchen. 

"So what do you think?" He asked. 

Standing in the middle of a commercial kitchen with all the amenities, Kai turned in a circle to take it all in. "This is perfect!" Turning to Daffyd, Kai asked "Has the crew eaten yet today do you think?" 

Daffyd chuckled. "Breakfast most likely, but not lunch, and it's almost time for someone to rotate in to start making a simple lunch, usually just sandwiches." Daffyd told her. 

"Well then tell whoever would be making sandwiches that they get the day off, I'll set up a lunch spread for the crew!" Kai began bustling about the kitchen, preparing everything to make a light tomato based soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. 

"Not a problem. Oh, I'm going to head for the bridge for my shift, I wanted to tell you something important first. If you ever feel the need, the door to my quarters are always open to you." Daffyd told her. 

"Thank you Daffyd. If i need, I will ask." Kai blushed as red as the tomatoes she was chopping. "Tell your crew lunch will be served in 30 minutes." 

"Okay." Daffyd said as he left and headed for the bridge, when he got there he keyed the intercom to announce to everyone.  
"All hands, this is the captain. We have a new cook, and she will have lunch ready in 30 minutes." He informed everyone, then closed the link and sat down for his shift. 

As she had promised, 30 minutes passed and a large tureen of tomato soup and 3 trays of grilled cheese sandwiches were spread out on a table for the crew to forage on. Her cooking complete, Kai sat in the dining area plucking at her guitar, watching the crew file in and grab food. 

One by one she saw every member of the crew come in aside from Daffyd. Most sat and ate while listening, though a few took their meals with them. 

After all had eaten, and returned to their duties, Kai prepared a meal for Daffyd _Gonna kill that man if he doesn't eat._ And found her way up to the bridge. Walking in like she owned the place, she stood next to Daffyd's chair and handed him the food. "You need to eat as well, Mr. McKay. It would not do to have your strength give out on you for poor nutrition." 

Daffyd blinked and looked up at her sheepishly. "Thank you, I do tend to skip a meal when I'm at space." He said softly. 

"It is my duty as chef to make sure that does not happen." Kai smiled impishly, but said nothing more. _How can you keep up with me without a good nutritional balance?_

~*~*~*~

More than two days later found Daffyd escorting Kai back to the observation lounge once again as they neared her home system.

"You'll want to watch this as much as when we entered hyper my dear Kai." He said softly as they entered the lounge. 

Kai stood staring at the window and grabbed Daffyd's hand. Thier past few days had gotten her feeling more comfortable with him. 

"I should warn you, as this is your first time in state of the art hyper travel, when we exit, you might feel a bit nauseous, which is why I'm here with you, but the sight is not something to miss." He told her as he moved to sit down on a couch. 

Kai sat next to Daffyd. "I'm ready." 

They sat there watching hyper space when the ship lurched, and a feeling of queasiness came over them both as the swirling colors were replaced with the black star field of normal space, yet the azure disks stayed for a brief moment, coloring the room and ship in blue for a couple of seconds. 

"Oomph" Kai clung to Daffyd's arm as the ship lurched. The blue tint to the room made it look otherworldly and ethereal. 

Daffyd grinned like one immune and looked down at her as the space beyond returned to normal and she saw the stars red shift again. "What did you think?" He asked softly as he gazed at her. 

"It was beautiful. How long till we get there?" 

"Probably about four hours, would you like to be on the bridge when the local defense force contacts us?" He asked her. 

"I need to be. I also need access to the communications console. I have to submit your papers of cargo across." a sadness filled Kai's eyes. 

"Ahhh specific way of things are done here eh? Good to know, I've never had cause to come to this system in the past." Daffyd said as he escorted her to the bridge. Before they entered the bridge Daffyd stopped them and turned to face her, gazing into her eyes. 

Kai looked back at Daffyd. "Im not surprised. Our little corner of the world is way out here. Practically backwater, really" 

"Kai, I want you to know something, its very important to me." He said seriously as he gazed into her eyes. 

"Yes, Daffyd?" _Oh goddess of stars, don't be that he's abandoning me here._

"No matter what happens when we meet your family, you are NOT getting rid of me easily, I don't even care if your mother and great grandfather forbid you from seeing me ever again. These last couple of days have been some of the best I've ever had, and I want to have more with you." He told her softly as his arms went around her waist and he held her, staring into her eyes, willing her to see the truth of his words in his. 

Kai Smiled and pressed her head against his chest, one delicately pointed ear pressed to his chest over his heart. "Im glad to hear that. Hold onto that conviction, you'll need it if you intend on talking my mother out of paying you." 

"There is only one person in all of creation that can tell me to leave you, and that is YOU." He said with feeling as he tilted her face up to look at him. 

Kai grinned and planted a tiny kiss on his nose. "Good. That gives me leverage, if I need it. Thank you Daffyd." 

Daffyd smiled lightly and when she kissed his nose his grin grew and he boldly planted a kiss on her lips, not a long one, but long enough to let her know that he wanted more but was willing to wait for her. 

Kai blushed brightly and turned towards the door. "Shall we then?" 

"Of course." Daffyd slowly let go of her, caressing her body as he did so, before he opened the door and stepped onto the bridge. His XO looked up and him and smiled.

"Everything is going well Daffyd, right on course and should be there in about three to four hours depending on if we have to stop." He informed them. 

Kai turned to address the crew. "Thank you all for assisting me on this trip. Betlegeuse 5 is not much to look at, and there isn't much to do. However, if you wish, and your captain allows shore leave, there are shuttles available to Betelgeuse 7, our sister planet, and a luxury resort. All expenses paid, courtesy the Ix Family, of course." 

The XO looked over at her, a little surprised but smiled.

"Thank you Ma'am, it is much appreciated." He said before looking over at Daffyd, who was gazing at Kai quizzically. "Captain, do I have permission to release the crew for shore leave when we arrive?" He asked.

Daffyd shook himself and looked at his old friend with a smirk. "Sure, everyone can have some time off, we're going to be here for several days, so please enjoy yourselves, you've all earned it, and it may be some time before we'll have this kind of freedom available to us." He said as he moved over to the Captain's chair and took his seat and smiled at Kai. _I know you're planning something my dear, I just don't know what.......yet....._ He thought. 

Kai stood at the side of Daffyds chair, business face on, and ready. _The communique from betlegeuse sector security should be coming through soon._

"Captain, we have an incoming hail from the local defense force, demanding to know who we are and our reason for being here. They seem pretty on edge for some reason." The comms officer reported.

Daffyd looked up at Kai and raised an eyebrow. 

Kai looked back at Daffyd. "We've had a problem with Pirates lately. One of our local traders went rogue and turned pirate." looking at the comms officer, Kai spoke "do you have video comms?" 

The comms officer smiled and nodded. "I'll set it to so that both you and the Captain can be viewed easily." He said as a little red light turned on in front of the pair. "You're live Ma'am." 

"Betelgeuse defense force, this is Lady Kailiandrai Regulus Ix, aboard the 'Free Catachan' captained by Daffyd McKay. Registered to Catachan. We are on a delivery run at the request of the Lady Hexaclara Ix, transport id number 5547648. Bill of lading and Documentation of Cargo transport being sent now." Kai pulled out the black device, opened a panel on it, and handed it to the comms officer. "Please scan this in and send it along this frequency." turning back to the camera she flashed a winning smile. "May we be permitted entry?" 

The comm officer took the device, and after a nod from Daffyd, plugged it into the system and sent the file, before nodding the Kai. 

Mere moments later, the defense force responded. 

"Lady Ix, your clearance has been processed, you have clearance to enter Betlegeuse 5 space, are you capable of landing, or will you need orbital shuttles?"

Kai looked at Daffyd, a measure of confusion on her face. 

"Defense Force Central, this is Captain Daffyd McKay, my ship is incapable of landing on planet, however I do have three cargo shuttles and two personnel shuttles aboard ship that can be used." He said to them 

"Unnecessary Captain. It is Lady Hex's wish that her daughter and the contracted pilot be retrieved and brought down in a private shuttle"

Kai spoke up. "Bryant, I would prefer the Captain and crew have their own transports, in the event that they are needed back on their ship. I am willing, however, to be picked up in Jeraluka's shuttle, if it will appease mother."

"Affirmative, Kai. I'll let your mother know, and I'll page Jeraluka and let her know to fuel up the 'Broken Dove'. Anything else you need?"

"Not at this time. Thank you Bry. See you soon."

"Bye Kai, Welcome home. Sorry for the circumstances."

Kai turned to the comms officer and gestured to cut the transmission. 

He cut the transmission and smiled at her. Daffyd looked up at her with a wide grin. "Are you the system favorite?" He asked playfully as they continued on their course. 

"Favorite? Hardly. Bryant, head of security is my brother in law. He married my eldest brother. I hope you don’t mind using your own shuttles, I just figured it would be easier to get back up to the ship that way." _I do intend to come back up here._ Kai thought, a note of amusement rippling through the thought. "As the only remaining daughter of the wealthiest family, I am granted... Special permissions." 

"I see, well I have no issue using our shuttles. Frank, you take the actual personnel shuttle, I'll fly down the FUBAR." Daffyd said with a smirk. "Unless the defense force wants to bring in severe lethal force, there is no way that FUBAR won't be getting its two passengers back aboard if we have to leave in a hurry." He winked at Kai 

"I highly doubt you'd be chased off planet. Daffyd, may I use your communicator? I need to call my mother." 

"Of course you may Kai, and I wasn't thinking that I would be chased off, so much as planning on the chance YOU want to leave, and people don't want you to." He said with a smirk. 

"Also unlikely, but appreciated. Would you be willing to accompany me for this call? I need to get you the coordinates for the family spaceport and the coordinates and tickets for the crew to visit the resort." 

"As you wish." He said with a wink and a grin as he stood up to follow her to his office for the call. 

Upon reaching the office, Kai dialed her mother's comm line.

"Hexaclara Ix, how may I help you?"

"Hi mom. I need you to do me a favor. I need you to send me 53 VIP Ix family guest passes to the Beeblebrox resort of Betelgeuse 7."

"Goodness dear, why so many?"

"A gift for the crew of this ship. As I'm sure you're aware, I'm on my way in."

"Yes dear. Surprising, that. We will talk more in person. Ill have the guest passes to you before you arrive."

"Thank you mommy. Talk soon. Love you."

"Love you bean."

Kai cut the transmission, pulled out a pen and scribbled coordinates down on a flake of paper she had in her bag.  
"The first coordinates are my family port. Those are for you. The second coordinates are for the ix family shuttlepad at the resort. Its about an hour trip via shuttle from 5 to 7." Kai collapsed back into the chair. "This is going to be exhausting." 

Daffyd moved around and started to rub her shoulders. "Yeah well, I'll be there too, so you won't be alone in this. Also, thank you for the gift to my crew. This will probably be the best shore leave they have ever had." He said to her as he kept rubbing her shoulders. "So, we have about three hours to kill, what do you want to do?" He asked her innocently. 

Kai looked at Daffyd. "Die? I haven’t seen my family or friends since I left 5 years ago. I’m not sure how well this will go over." 

"Well I'm not going to let you die on me, you're too important to me to let that happen, so any other ideas?" He asked both serious and playful at the same time as he continued to massage her shoulders. "Besides, I'm going to be at your side, no need to worry about what people think, I'll take on anyone if need be to defend your honor and you." He said seriously. 

Kai placed her hand over Daffyds. "Thank you. I suppose I could eat. Or nap. I really don't know." 

He leaned down and kissed her jaw and smiled at her. "Whatever would relax you the most for our upcoming 'battle' that we'll face together." He said to her, hoping to relax her. 

"Can i just curl up on your chest and rest then?" kai looked at daffyd, a storm of emotions in her eyes. 

"Your place or mine?" He asked her simply. 

"Yours" kai stated distantly. 

Daffyd helped her up out of his chair and escorted her to his quarters, he then led her to his bedroom and laid down on his bed, he smiled at her and held open his arms to her, letting her chose how she settled herself down to relax. 

Climbing into the bed after him, she laid against his side and pressed her head to his chest, with one arm draped over his waist and the other curled to her chest. "I'm nervous about you meeting mom. After the Javan incident, I’m worried about introducing her to another trader." 

"I'm more than just another trader and you know that my love." he said softly. "I've got over a hundred years of service with Shield Fleet to back it up, and I take my word very seriously, you know that, and we'll show her that." 

"I know. I know. I am safe with you. I only hope she can see that..." Kai murmured as she let sleep take her for a few brief moments. 

Daffyd smiled as she fell asleep and caressed her back as she rested, slowly fading to sleep himself.


	9. Mother dearest, Mother dearest.

Three hours later, the comm in his room started to go off. Daffyd tried to instinctively to reach for his comm, he looked around wondering why he couldn't move to see Kai cuddling him and caused him to smile and kiss the top of her head softly, then reached with his off hand to open the comm.

"McKay, what's up?" he said after he keyed his comm to audio only.

"We're five minutes from orbit Captain. You and the missus might want to come up here." His XO said with a grin in his voice. 

Kai sat bolt upright, and climbed out of the bed. "Here we go." Grabbing her guitar and towel, Kai left the room and made her way to the bridge. 

Daffyd chuckled at how light a sleeper she was and got up to follow her, smiling at how good it felt to have her curled up against him. When he reached the bridge behind her he stood there looking at the view screen that showed them sliding into orbit. "Looks like we have arrived." he said dryly. 

~*~*~*~

On Betlegeuse 5, Lady Hexaclara Ix was pacing the grand foyer of the massive manor that belonged to the Ix family. Her daughter was coming home, and she had hired a trader to bring her. Not only that, but a much older trader, well backed, well refrenced, and very single. That was a scary thought for the lady. _He is older even than I am. I do hope he is a gentleman._

"JERALUKA! Are you leaving to get my daughter yet?"  
"yes'm. on my way out."

Lady Ix resumed her pacing.

~*~*~*~

In orbit of the planet, the Free Catachan had just arrived and Kai was gazing down on the world she grew up on.

"This is it Daffyd, this is my home."  
"Everything will be fine Kai, you'll see." He said softly as he placed a hand in the small of her back. "Should I take my own shuttle down? Or do you want me traveling with you?" 

"You'll want your own shuttle, as your crew will probably be heading straight to Betlegeuse 7." turning to the XO she smiled. "You have the passes and coordinates i gave you, right?" 

"Yes ma'am, and thank you again for the vacation." He said as he bowed to her.

Daffyd smiled and gave Kai a quick hug and whispered in her ear. "See you on the planet love. I'll be in the assault shuttle." He then slowly stepped away, his bridge crew all grinning at the couple, and turned and left for his shuttle. 

Standing alone and staring at a dove white shuttle approaching, Kai began to sing softly, as a tear rolled down her cheek. 

"And the blood will dry underneath my nails,  
And the wind will rise up to fill my sails.  
So you can doubt, and you can hate.  
But I know, no matter what it takes  
I'm coming home  
I'm coming home  
Tell the world I'm coming home  
Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday  
I know my kingdom awaits and they've forgiven my mistakes  
I'm coming home, I'm coming home  
Tell the world that I'm coming... Home" 

Daffyd sat aboard the assault shuttle FUBAR as he launched from his ship. He already had coordinated his landing permissions as he brought the heavily armed and armored shuttle down to the Ix family private landing site. He smiled grimly at why he had chosen this one, in case Kai needed an escape, he had a shuttle capable of getting them back to the Catachan in one piece, unless they wanted to bring in real warships to try to stop him. 

Shortly after Daffyd landed, next to him landed the 'broken dove' A snow white shuttlecraft. Suddenly a herd of people came running out of the building, and stood in rows on either side of the shuttle door. As it opened, Kai appeared. She had a plastic smile on her face, demure and professional, the kind of smile you would expect from a princess. And the way they treated her, she might as well be a princess. She walked down the stairs and greeted the gathered crowd. When she saw the other shuttle on the pad, her eyes twinkled. her smile didn't change, but she walked a little faster, right over to Daffyd.

"You found it ok! Oh good! Welcome to my home..." 

Daffyd shook his head with a light grin and flashed her a wider smile for only her. _She hates this attention, she'd rather be a crew member and my girlfriend aboard my ship than deal with this._ He thought as he stepped out of his shuttle and walked down the ramp, then keyed the ramp to close back up and turn on the security system to prevent unauthorized entry. 

Kai put her professional mask back on. "Mr. Mckay, may I present to you the Lady Hexaclara Ix." 

The doors swung open, and a silver haired woman dressed in the finery of royalty walked onto the landing pad. Gesturing grandly, she spoke.  
"Greetings Mr. McKay. thank you for delivering my daughter to me." Turning to Kai, she looked her up and down. "You look... well, Daughter."  
"And you look Aged, Mother." Kai fired back with a devilish twinkle in her eye. "Mother, this is Mr. McKay, he is responsible for my safety. I will be in my room. Summon me when negotiations are over." And with that Kai walked away and up to her rooms.

"Mr. McKay, please follow me. I am sure you have a price you would like to discuss before you join your crew at the Resort, yes?"  
She walked towards the doors and beckoned him to follow her. 

Daffyd followed her into the building and to the office. He stood before her and bowed politely. "It is a pleasure to meet you in person Lady Ix." He said formally. 

"Likewise. Now, about your payment." Hex hit a button on the wall and the sudden auditory stillness of a soundproof room was jarring. "You can speak freely, we are no longer in danger of anyone hearing us. So, that being said, what kind of compensation do you want for hauling my brat of a daughter clear across the galaxy?" 

Daffyd's face became like stone and he almost glared at her. "First of all I do not require monetary compensation for having your wonderful daughter aboard my vessel." Daffyd said stiffly. 

Hex laughed joyously. "Ha! So i was right! You have fallen for her! Well, a vast improvement over that Dingbat Javan she left with. We thought he was such a nice boy. Turned out he only wanted the money. You on the other hand, I never said money. My exact words were 'What kind of compensation'." Hex grinned wickedly. "So, lets try this again, without you getting all growly on me young man." 

"It was very hard NOT to fall for your lovely daughter My Lady. As for any other kind of compensation, truly I do not NEED compensation for transporting your daughter. She asked and I was happy to provide." He smiled at the woman now. "We had come to an agreement before this trip was arranged. She asked to work aboard my vessel in exchange for going wherever we went. So in a way this trip was nothing more than a crew member's request to their captain to make a detour to their home system." Daffyd replied. 

"Noble, Mr. McKay. But I must insist, there must be something I can offer you to repay your kindness. And because I dislike the idea of my only child left hitchhiking all across the Galaxy, something to thank you for ending that foolish tradition my late husbands grandfather started." 

"I don't require any compensation, but I do have a small request My Lady." Daffyd said slowly, almost hesitantly. 

"A request? Alright. let's hear it." She walked over to a crystal decanter and poured two glasses of something bright blue. She held one out to Daffyd and kept one for herself. "Say your right words." 

"I want your daughter to be happy, she deserves it more than anything. And I want your and her great grandfather's blessing on my courting her formally." Daffyd said confidently as he stood to his full height, almost challenging her to deny that her daughter deserved to be happy with someone of her choosing. 

"Huh. Well, I did some background research on you. I hope you understand, there is quite a bit of pressure for Kai to pass on our bloodline. I can't give you permission, only she can. If you hurt her, you will answer to me." her face clouded over and the power of a galactic storm raged behind her eyes. "I will not go lightly on you should you hurt her, but I suppose..." she returned to her normal state. "If you are truly the man you seem, and are willing to make an honest woman out of her, you will have my blessing, if it is HER will." Hex shook the drink lightly at him. "To toast the end of our business dealings." 

He took the drink and gave her a wry grin. "My Lady, I fully intend to make your daughter an honest woman if she'll have me. And you won't have to worry about dealing with me if I hurt her, because if I find out I have hurt her, well, I'd rather die than let that happen." He told her before he drank from the glass he was offered. "Who knows, the God Emperor be willing, I might be calling you mother in a few years." He finished with a wide smirk. 

"I can only hope so." she looked at him curiously. "I am surprised you handled that so easily. Most are found to be quite adverse to the effect and feelings of a pan-galactic gargle-blaster. You must be quite the match for my daughter in a drinking contest." 

Daffyd chuckled. "I'm from Catachan Ma'am, unless it's made there, we natives have a VERY high tolerance for anything alcoholic. I think its because of the adaptations we've had to make due to how deadly our planet truly is to every non-native creature that attempts to live there." He said as he handed the glass back to his hostess. 

Taking the glass she smiled. "Well then, perhaps i ought to find myself a catachan man to drink with." she looked solemnly at Daffyd. "Approval from Prax might be a bit tougher. He is actually on a pilgrimage to Magrathea at the moment, to consult that damnable computer. He will return, but not for some time. My approval will have to suffice." 

"For now that was the main goal." Daffyd responded, "I kinda figured YOU would be the harder one to convince, given Kai's past, but, anything that is worth having, is worth fighting, and sometimes dying, for." He said as he gave her a lopsided grin. 

"I see you are substantially more affected than I would have believed. Initially." Hex grinned, the same grin her daughter had. "Shall I have Kai summoned then?" 

Daffyd had a cross between a grin and a serious look. "A proper lady is not summoned like a favored pet, she is hunted and found and treated with respect like a great predator that one tests oneself against." He said very seriously, but not drunkenly so, almost as he were teaching a young person about the rules of how society works. He then bowed formally to her. "Lady Ix, it has been a distinct pleasure to talk to you this day, and while I may appear to be affected more, it is just that, an appearance." He smirked. "I prefer to find Kai myself, it makes the finding of her more.......enjoyable......than it would be otherwise." 

Hex grinned. "You are welcome to try. She is in her rooms. You get to figure out where they are. Good hunting, Mr. Mckay." and with that, Lady Hexaclara Ix unlocked the door and shooed Daffyd out it.


	10. Sometimes you have to go hunting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning: it gets a little steamy

Daffyd bowed to Hex again then left the room. He looked about and pulled up the schematic of the building that was public record and looked for the most logical location of the family quarters and headed in that direction, almost certain that if he didn't run into her quarters specifically, that one of the servants were going to stop him and he would inquire then, saying he had business with Kai. 

The serving staff watched him pass, and some of the ladies giggled and whispered to each other as he marched towards the quarters 

_hmmmm let's see here, I know in large families, people's rooms usually were labeled in some way, so that each kid could identify their room easier from their siblings._ he thought as he started to look around for his Lady's room. Either that or a servant who actually decided to stop him. 

It was strange, but the serving staff all seemed to avoid Daffyd. Upon reaching the family hall, he was greeted by 8 identical doors. 4 down either side, and a staircase going up. 

_hmmmmmm now where to? wait, I have her personal comm code, damn i can be stupid sometimes._ he thought as he punched the code into his comm unit with a smirk and waited for her to pick up.

~*~*~*~ 

In Kai's room, the guide made a little blippy noise, and a holo-pic of Daffyd popped up. Kai, however, didn't hear it, as she was in the Bath. 

~*~*~*~

_damn she ain't answering. hmmm where would i pick for a room if i were her?_ he thought as he tried to mentally narrow it down as well as pick up her specific scent that JUST she had, one he had grown quite used to smelling over the past few days, coming to know it quite well to the point where he could tell she was behind him because he smelled her. He started to slowly walk through past the doors, trying to find the one that smelled like his love. 

~*~*~*~

Kai sat in a claw footed tub with bubbles up to her chin, singing happily. 

"And life is a road that I wanna keep going  
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey  
I'll be there when the world stops turning  
I'll be there when the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you" 

~*~*~*~

As Daffyd walked down the halls he paused, listening. He could faintly hear Kai's voice singing. He followed the sound until he came to a door. _Hmmmm should I just walk in, or should I knock?_ He thought, hovering outside the door. 

~*~*~*~

Kai finished scrubbing herself, and relaxed into the water. 

~*~*~*~

_Fuck it, her mom approves, I know she likes me and cares about me, and I think I'm falling hard for her. She can always kick me out._ Daffyd thought before he silently entered her quarters, and silently shut the door, using all of his hunter's skills in stealth, honed by his growing up on a planet that tried to kill him for 30 years. 

Daffyd stood in a sitting area. There was a singular door off to the side leading to the bedroom.   
He quietly stalked over to the bedroom door and peeked into it, hearing the sounds coming from its attached bathroom, he noticed her large and comfortable bed and he grinned lecherously. He stripped down to his boxers and put his clothes down under a chair and then went and laid down on top of the covers on the bed. He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep as he waited for her to come out of the bath. 

"Mum and Daffyd are still bickering over pay, Im sure. I suppose I should get out of the bath and put something more 'ladylike' on." She muttered to herself. Pulling the drain, Kai stood up and grabbed a massive towel from the towel warmer nearby and wrapped it around herself as she walked to her bedroom to get dressed. She stopped short at the sight of Daffyd on her bed, curled up and sleeping. "Daffyd! What are you doing here?" 

Daffyd slowly cracked an eye open and smiled lazily as he looked at her towel covered form. "Was napping love." He said slowly as he stretched, spreading his legs a little his loose boxers falling open a bit as he stretched. 

Kai couldnt help but stare at him. He looked amazing stretched on her bed. A blush crept up her cheeks. "Daffyd, did negotiations with mum go well?" she ripped her eyes off him and walked over to her walk-in closet. 

Daffyd quietly got off her bed and padded silently up behind her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, letting his hands rest one on her belly the other just under her breasts and he kissed the side of her neck below her ear before he whispered in her ear. "You can say that they went VERY well my love." He whispered huskily in her ear before he kissed her neck again. 

Kai melted back into Daffyd's arms. "You mean you actually convinced mum to forego compensation?" her ears were tipped in red, and her skin thoroughly flushed, but she made no move to pull away. 

"Even one better my love." He murmured against her skin as his hands started to knead her skin under the towel. "I have her blessing to formally court you, if you'll have me that is. Oh and that pan-galactic-gargle-blaster is something else." He said as he kissed the tip of her ear. 

"Ugh, she actually got you to drink one of those? And you're not slobbering drunk, I am impressed." Kai's voice was breathy and sensual. She began absently flicking through her wardrobe, trying to find something to wear to dinner. 

"So was she my dear." He said as his hands found the split in the towel and teased at it as he placed more kisses on her neck. "Gods you are SO sexy Kai." 

Kai made a soft noise that could have been a moan. _Dammit, why is he inebriated!_ "Daffyd..." Kai spoke kindly but firmly. "You are inebriated. I'll not be with you for the first time in such a state." _Damn it all._

Daffyd slowly forced himself to back off, but barely an inch of space was between them as he turned her around to face him gently. "Is that a promise my dear?" He asked seriously, though she could see the obvious desire and love for her in his eyes, as well as how much he was resisting doing what he wanted to her. His desire was also physically obvious for her to feel twitching against her. 

"You know what, yeah. That’s a promise. If mum gave her permission, then I can actually call you my boyfriend, then yes, that is a promise." Kai smiled, loving the way it felt to be held in his arms. 

Daffyd's smile could have lit up the room all by itself with how happy he felt before he pulled her close again and kissed her deeply and passionately before slowly pulling away and put his forehead against hers. "Then I promise not to get drunk tonight at dinner, and I'll restrain myself for now, because I so want to just throw you on your bed and spend the next several hours making you scream my name to the heavens in pleasure." He said huskily to her. 

Kai actually moaned this time in response to not only his kiss, but his statement. "Goddess of Stars Daffyd..." Kai looked at him with eyes full of love and longing. "I should get dressed for dinner now." Kai pushed Daffyd out of the closet with a giggle. 

"Yes dear." He said with a chuckle as he left and pulled his clothes out from under the chair he had stashed them and got dressed in full view of the closet on purpose. _My life is FINALLY looking up in a good way._ He thought happily as he sat on the bed and looked over at the closet, partially hoping to catch sight of her changing. 

Kai swiftly picked her outfit. A floor length strapless affair with lace puffed shoulder caps. Emerging from the closet fully garbed, she sat at her vanity and chose a sparkling necklace and a set of earrings that stretched delicate chains out to the tips of her ears. She turned to daffyd and grinned. "What do you think. Do I look like a lady now?" 

"I think you look like a high class lady now my dear, but I have always thought that you have looked like a lady, from the day we met." He answered her honestly as he stood there in his usual clothes of comfortable slacks and a black undershirt with his old, faded formal red coat with his medals pinned on it. 

Kai giggled. "Well then. Shall we attend dinner?" 

Daffyd held out his arm for her and smiled softly at her. "Will you allow this lowly one to escort you to dinner My Lady?" He said to her self-depreciatingly. 

"You may always escort me, but you are not now, nor shall you ever be, lowly." Kai smiled lovingly at him. 

Daffyd smiled widely and kissed her softly. "Let's go have some fun with dinner Kai-dear. I think we could almost drive your mom crazy if we acted like a pair of love struck teenagers." He chuckled as they left her quarters. 

"Id rather we not. Knowing my mother, she would enjoy it far too much." Kai led the way to the dining hall. 

Daffyd chuckled lightly. "As you wish my love." He said softly as they walked the halls, Daffyd ignoring the servants that they passed, concentrating more on the wonderful woman he was walking with. 

Upon reaching the dining room, the pair were seated side by side at one end of an excessively large and empty table.

Hex was already there, seated at the head of the table, wearing a different formal gown.  
"Ahh! The lovebirds finally made it down. Lets eat!" 

Daffyd looked over at Kai with a smirk and offered to serve her some of the food that was on the table. 

Kai nodded in agreement before hex stopped Daffyd. "Young man, I have people to serve us this evening. Please sit and enjoy. Be our guest." as soon as she said that, 3 people came out of the kitchen and made 3 plates of food. One for each of the diners. 

Daffyd blinked and sat back. _Hope the crew has left for their vacation, they earned it._ He thought, his mind already sober again as he gazed at the food and smiled at Kai with a wink. 

Three light-minutes from Betelgeuse 5, a vessel of unknown design popped out of hypserspace, coming to a complete stop. Three minutes later, the frigates belonging to the Betelgeuse Planetary Defense Force begin racing to intercept the unknown vessel as it sits there, unmoving. 

Kai tucked into her plate delicately, smiling demurely. It was at that moment, mid bite, that Bryant came running into the dining hall. "Mother! Emergency!" he said. Hexaclara stood up and raced over to him. "Dear boy, what on earth is the matter?" "unknown ship, not responding to hailing, sitting in betlegeuse space."  
Kai looked in shock at the scene unfolding.  
Hex looked at Daffyd. "I know the specs of your ship. Can i hire you to lead the betlegeuse planetary fleets to address this unknown ship?" 

Daffyd looked over at Kai, then back to her mother. "I'm sure we could reach a mutually agreeable contract for that Lady Ix, after I deal with this ship." He answered, then looked over at Kai, "Shall we?" He asked as he reached for his comm and keyed it to a specific number. "Frank please tell me you haven't left the ship yet!"

"Not yet Captain, our sensors just reported that new ship, figured you'd want us to stand by, are you returning?" He asked.

"Yes we're returning." Daffyd said simply as he stood up. 

"I cant go... Not in this outfit. Ill be right back." kai dashed out of the room, up to her chambers, stripped off the dress and put on an outfit that looked like the Betlegeuese planetary defense force uniform. Grabbing her guitar, and her towel, kai slid down the banister and ran back into the dining room. "Ready dear. Lets deal with this." Hex looked at the two, and spoke softly "bring her home safe, Daffyd. And goddess of stars bless you both." 

"I will Ma'am."Daffyd said as he led Kai out to his assault shuttle and took off, heading for his ship.


	11. A Challenger Approaches!

Daffyd and Kai arrived aboard the Free Catachan and Daffyd took off at a run for the bridge. "See you on the bridge love." He said as he ran. He arrived on the bridge and looked at Frank.

"Status report!" He snapped.

"The unknown ship hasn't moved, and hasn't transmitted anything. The ship is ready to move out at anytime, it is already in range of our missiles but it isn't being hostile." Frank reported 

Kai followed fast on his heels up to the bridge. _What would an unknown ship be doing in Betelgeuse space?_ Kai pondered. "We need to contact the fleet, let them know we are getting prepped." 

"Already done Ma'am." The comms officer reported as the ship started to move closer to the unknown vessel. 

Daffyd sat in his command chair and looked at his repeaters. "Have we tried to raise the ship?" He asked.

"Yes sir, no response just yet." He reported.

"Keep trying to raise them." Daffyd ordered as he stared at the visual picture relayed to him of what the ship looks like.

"Any thoughts Kai?" He asked. 

The vessel suddenly began moving forward, though there were no readings of engine emissions or thrusters of any kind. It was slow, slower than a freighter. As it moved, a clear ready from one of the defense frigates was sent to the Free Catachan. The ship was roughly 1,371 meters long, and incredibly wide It had weapons, but none of them were active and there was no visible sign of engines anywhere on the ship. 

"Raise defenses. Hail the fleet. Don't attack unprovoked." Kai paced nervously around the bridge. 

Daffyd nodded in agreement. "Guns, raise sidewalls and point defense. Comms coordinate with the local defense forces, we'll handle the initial. Hopefully they're not hostile." He ordered as his ship drew closer to the unknown.

"I wonder who the hell they are!" He growled. 

The ship continued to move toward the planet, unresponsive to all hails. As it drew near the Free Catachan, a strange image appeared in the heads of every crew member, of a small version of the Free Catachan flying into a large opening on the bottom of the ship, docking with it. 

Daffyd looked over to Kai and raised an eyebrow. "I think that's an invitation to go over there." He said slowly, to see what she was thinking about the matter. 

"I... Have my reservations, but let us see what it is." She tightened her grip on her guitar. _I don't feel any malicious intent, but i don't know. Best to be on alert._

The ship seemed to slow to a halt a kilometer above the wedge of the Free Catachan, and about 100km to the front. A large square of glowing purple light was on the bottom, where the vision showed a ship docking. 

"Somehow I don't think we can shrink my ship to fit it in that one, we'll have to take one of the shuttles. Would you accompany me Kai?" He asked her as he stood up.

"Frank, keep an eye on things for me, I don't think these people are hostile." He ordered. 

"Alert the fleet we are sending a delegation, have them let my mother know. Stay on guard."  
Kai adjusted the strap of her towel wrapped guitar across her chest and took Daffyd's hand. 

A string of purple lights flashed around the opening, as if extending an invitation. 

"Roger Ma'am." The comms officer replied as Daffyd escorted her off the bridge and to the shuttle bay. Daffyd led her to the unarmed shuttle and boarded it, then left the ship and flew towards the open boat bay. 

"I sure hope this isn't a trap." He murmured softly to himself, worried about what they might face. 

"If it is, we stun and run." Kai looked at Daffyd. "Whatever happens in there, know that I love you." 

Daffyd smiled softly at her. "I love you as well Kai Ix, and I'll show you how much if we make it out of this alive." He promised her. 

The hatch closed behind the shuttle and the area pressurized. The purple light was replaced by dim white light as the bat was safe for them to exit. 

Daffyd looked over at her and grinned. "Shall we?" He asked as he stood up and offered her his hand. 

Kai took daffyd's hand and gulped nervously. "Just be non threatening." Kai put her professional face on, and smiled diplomatically. "Shall we meet our visitors?" 

"I'll try not to, and yes let us meet them." Daffyd said as he kept one hand on her and the other out in plain view as he led the way out of the shuttle and into the bay. 

A strange pink mist filled the bay. It came to ankle level, but seemed to shoot up the walls like a living thing. A few meters away was what looked like a hatch, but it was three feet off the ground, and only three feet tall. 

Daffyd looked a little worried about the mist that filled the area, then glanced at the hatch that was in front of them. "Well this is interesting......" He said, trying not to be nervous for her sake. 

"Hello there? Is anyone out there?" Kai called out, finding her diplomatic confidence. 

The hatch opened and more pink mist spilled out. As it parted, it revealed an inhabitant of the ship as it floated slowly toward the couple. 

Daffyd looked over at Kai and raised an eyebrow at her, then looked back at the creature that was approaching them. _This is going to be very interesting._ He thought as they waited. 

"Greetings, Visitor. I am Kailiandrai Ix, of the planet Betlegeuse 5, which you are in orbit of. It is a pleasure to meet you." Kai hoped her greeting would be understood, and accepted. 

It stopped moving for a moment, before one of it's long tendrils on the arms lifted, like a snake, and pointed directly at Daffyd. Or, more accurately, Daffyd's forehead. The creature began floating toward Daffyd, still holding the tendrils level with his forehead. 

"Ummm." Daffyd looked uncertain at the creatures actions, it didn't APPEAR to be threatening him, but one could never be too sure. 

Kai squeezed Daffyd's hand reassuringly. _Please do not attack him. Please be non-hostile._ She thought with all her might 

It touched Daffyd with the tendril, which glowed blue for a moment, before dropping down like the rest.

_**Daffyd. McKay. Human. Captain. Merchant.** _

A voice filled the heads of the couple. And the creature didn't seem bothered by it.

_**Danger. Coming. Help.**_

"You need help? Are you stranded? What is coming?" Kai began to inquire, gathering whatever information she needed to relay to the fleet. 

"Danger is coming? From where? And how could I help, I'm just a simple merchant." He asked as well. 

_**your minds. They take time. We come with warning. Danger Coming.**_

“So danger is coming, but still a ways off. That means we have time to prepare doesn't it? That's why you're here, to make sure we were warned?" Daffyd asked, trying to get more information. "What kind of danger is it though?" 

_**Dom'Kavosh. Ancient enemies. Coming for us. Coming for you. We are weak. You are strong. You are capable.** _

The protrusions on the side went from purple to blue.

_**They are here. Help. Danger. Fight off enemy.** _

A strange vessel came out of of hyperspace and began firing at the first ship. 

As the ship rocked from the incoming fire, Daffyd grabbed Kai and ran for his shuttle, keying his comm at the same time. "Frank take the fucker that is shooting at this ship!" He barked.

"Roger Daffyd. I'll nail that bastard to the wall!" Frank said over the comms.

Out in space the Free Catachan rolled, presenting her wedge to the new enemy and launched both broadsides worth of missiles at the enemy, using the off-bore capability of its launchers to get a full 40 missiles shooting towards the ship at over eighty thousand gravities of acceleration, each one bearing a laser head as strong as anything fired by a superdreadnought, each one firing straight and true, despite the quick acquisition of ship that fired. 

Kai grabbed the guide and opened comm to the fleet. "Open fire upon the second ship. They are hostile. Defend the first ship!" She looked at Daffyd "Daffyd, we need to get to the Free Catachan." she turned to the alien. "We will aid you, you have my word." 

"Already on it love, we'll get aboard my ship, and worst case scenario, I'll run that bastard down carve him in two with the wedge." He snarled, pissed that all of this was happening NOW. 

As the enemy fire hit the ship, the creature let off a shriek of pain. However, the enemy was caught off guard by the amount of missiles as they detonated and the bomb pumped lasers sliced into it. It froze for a moment before disintegrating into a mass of twinkling lights. 

"Captain, the target is destroyed I think." Frank suddenly said. "It just disintegrated into a whole crap ton of twinkling lights."

"Fire a few nukes at those lights just to be sure, I want to make sure it's dead." Daffyd ordered.

The Free Catachan fired four nuke armed missiles into the mass of lights, blanketing the area with nuclear hell for a brief moment. While inside the ship Daffyd stopped moving towards the shuttle and looked first at Kai, then over at the creature who had shrieked when the ship was hit. 

"It... Disentigrated?" Kai looked at the alien. "Are they gone?" 

The creature floated slightly off center, the top of its body at the one o'clock position. There was a harsh, but low trilling coming from it. 

Daffyd looked at the creature, uncertain what it was doing or why, then looked to Kai, asking her with his eyes, what they should do. 

Kai gripped the strap of her guitar, and walked tenativley towards the creature, hand outstretched palm up. "Are you okay?" 

The creature shivered before righting itself.

_**The enemy. They hurt. All of us hurt. Please help us. We need your help.** _

It's command of speaking to Daffyd and Kai seemed to have improved.

_**your weapons. They are effective. Help us, please. They hurt us.**_

"Your enemy hurts you or our weapons?" Daffyd asked with slightly narrowed eyes. 

Kai looked to Daffyd admiringly. _This is why he's a captain. He knows how to handle this stuff._

It was silent, though the tendrils pulsed for a moment.

_**The enemy hurts us. Your weapons hurt them. We cannot hurt them anymore. They will win. They will hurt you too.**_

Kai stood tall. And addressed the creature "Then the entire Betelgeuse defense fleet will defend you. You have safe harbor here in our space." 

Daffyd scoffed. "They might hurt us, but we humans are resilient and if you don't kill ALL of us, we WILL win, we've done it against our own kind again and again, we're something of experts at warfare now." he said full of pride at his race. "Let them come, and we'll smack them back to the stone age if necessary" 

The creature was silent, protrusions pulsating, before it answered.

_**They will come back. More of them. And they will hurt everyone. This world, not enough protection. Too exposed.**_

"I think we can bolster defenses. My brother in law has been working on orbital defense systems, and my family can fund it." Kai said with confidence. 

Daffyd snorted at how scared the creature sounded in his head. He looked over at Kai, then back to the creature. "Do you have a way to give us all the information you have on this enemy of yours? Anything that might be used against them at all?" He asked, his eyes still narrowed. "Any data you can give us would aid us greatly in preparing to face this threat with enough force to make it VERY costly for them." 

The creature raised a tendril, similar to when he touched Daffyd's forehead to learn to communicate.

_**I can share my knowledge of the enemy with you. But it causes discomfort. Your mind is different than ours.**_

Daffyd stared at it, and grinned like a crazy person at it. "Hit me with it!" He told the creature. 

Kai grabbed daffyd's hand. "Wait, daffyd, the interface of the guide is advanced, might it be possible to put the info straight into the guide?" 

The creature gave off a feeling of confusion.

_**Information exchange requires a mind connection.** _

The tendril swayed slightly. 

"Well then. Daffyd, if you want to, it could be valuable knowledge. I will pick your brain after." Kai squeezed his hand. 

"Like I had said earlier, give it to me." 

The creature touched the tendril to Daffyd's forehead and bit began pulsing into him, faster and faster. There was a pressure in Daffyd's head as the creature shared information with him. After a few seconds, it released him. 

"Ugh, okay that's going to take a while to shift through. Like My Lady said, you're welcome to stay here. It will be safe here." Daffyd said as he leaned into Kai a little bit. "But I need to eat, and then rest." He finished. 

"There is dinner waiting back at my house, and we have many spare rooms" Kai turned and bowed to the creature. "I have obtained orbital permitting for you. A Planetary defense guard will be posted to protect you from further harm. For now, i fear the captain needs sustenance and rest." Kai carefully turned Daffyd towards the shuttle. 

_**there are many of us and we all need help.** _

a vague memory recalled 27 ships of this size, scattered across the galaxy, three of them well on the other side of the galaxy in Kai's mind. There used to be hundreds. 

"If your comrades can make it here, we can provide safe harbor. Betlegeuse 4, the planet with the rings is large enough to orbit many ships, and has been used as a staging point for military operations. We have defensive measures in place, and our best warships prepared to defend you against all odds. You have my word." Kai walked Daffyd to the shuttle. "Thank you for the info, we will support you, and defend you, to the benefit of both our races." 

Daffyd carefully piloted the ship down from orbit and landed at the Ix family pad. He then looked at Kai and gave her a soft smile. "Honey, we're home." 

Kai burst out in laughter. "It seems we are. Now to actually eat! I'm famished!" Kai stood up and opened the shuttle door. "I think the crew should take their vacation now. They've earned it." 

"Already on it love. Now let's go eat, then I want to crawl into that comfortable bed of yours with you." He said softly as he stumble/followed her to the dining room. 

Kai bypassed the dining room and went straight to the kitchen. Pushing through the doors, she found her mother at the table in the kitchen with her hands wrapped around a large mug of hot tea. "Mother, we did it. The unidentified ship is an alien race in need of help. I have offered them shelter at the old military base around B-4. However, is there any food leftover? We are famished!" kai walked over and lovingly rubbed her mother's shoulders. The knot of worry that was creasing lady hex's brow disappeared as she lept up to hug Kai and Daffyd. "Thank the goddess you two are okay! There’s food in the fridge, help yourselves!" Hex let go of them and beamed pride. 

Daffyd instinctively hugged her back before her words registered. "Don't mind if I do mother." He murmured as he stumble/walked to the kitchen for food. 

Kai broke away from Hex and steered Daffyd towards the fridge. "Sorry momma. He had a bit of an interesting thing up there. Im gonna get some food in him and get his delirious butt into bed."  
Kai rummaged in the fridge and ended up making a giant beef and pork sandwich with all the trimmings. Handing the sandwich to daffyd, she sat him down at the table so he could eat. She then made herself a similar sandwich and sat down next to Daffyd to eat. 

Daffyd looked up at her as she put the food in front of him. "I love you so much Kai Ix!" He said before he tucked into the sandwich, making it disappear at an almost alarming rate. Thankfully she had seen this before and knew it wasn't a bad thing. When he finished, he looked up at her again, looking closer to his normal self, though there was something odd in the sparkle in his eyes.

"All done my love" 

Kai laughed, and finished her own sandwich. "Well then, lets get you to bed." Kai grabbed his arm "you need to rest if we are to sort and use the information you got to better defend against this new threat." Kai turned to Hex. "Thank you momma. Ill see you in the morning for breakfast." Kai steered daffyd out of the kitchen and to the residence wing. Up the flight of stairs, kai navigated Daffyd to the room across from hers. "This was Darold's room, but it should suit you well. If you need clothes, his will fit you. You are about the size he was." Kai swung the door open, revealing a well decorated room adorned with weaponry and military paraphernalia. "Rest well Daffyd." Kai waved and turned towards her own door. _I need a bath._ She thought grimly.


	12. There's a first time for everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: The following chapter is steamy, juicy, and all kinds of other descriptions to basically exclaim that this chapter is one of the reasons this story is rated EXPLICIT. -Points to the rating- 
> 
> If you do not want to read this type of thing, you can skip to the next chapter, as this event is not entirely critical to the story-line.
> 
> You have been warned. 
> 
> -Lucky

Daffyd watched her walk into her room and a wicked smile that had a lot of his desire and love for her in it. He waited a few minutes to let her get more settled then quietly snuck into her room again. 

Kai walked straight to the bathroom, and drew a hot bubble bath. Peeling off her fatigues, she climbed into the hot soapy water and allowed her mind to sift through the events of the day. 

Daffyd knew what was about to happen with Kai. He'd seen it plenty of times over the years. She would either start crying or just go catatonic, either war he'd be there tonight and many more nights, for her. He waited for her breakdown to occur just outside her bathroom. While he waited he stripped down to his boxers. 

As the days events replayed, Kai started to cry softly. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she laid in the hot water, letting it soothe the tension from her. The tears wouldn't stop. Soon she was sniffling and looked like a train wreck. She had been strong for the entire ordeal, now she could let herself be weak. She cried for the loss of life, she cried for the poor aliens being pursued, and she cried from sheer exhaustion. 

When he heard her start to cry he let her for a little before he quietly entered. His heart tore at seeing his love like this as he moved up to her and gently wrapped his arms around her naked shoulders. "Shhhh my love, I'm here now." He whispered in her ear gently. 

Kai pivoted around in the tub and wrapped her arms around daffyd's neck as she continued to cry. She buried her face in his neck and just clung to him, she didn't know what else to do. 

He held her and rubbed her back soothingly. "There there love, I'm here. You're safe, I'm safe, we're both still alive." He murmured in her ear as he comforted her. _Wonder how she'll go when she calms down. Either she'll jump my bones, or just demand I hold her the rest of the night I figure._

Eventually kai's tears stopped flowing, and she laid there, pressed against Daffyd. She summoned a tiny bit of voice, just enough to say "we should go to bed." she disengaged her arms from Daffyds neck, grabbed her towel, and wrapped it around her. Exiting the bathroom, she walked straight to the bed, dropped her towel, and collapsed on top of the covers. She stared up at the ceiling and just laid there, deep in thought. 

Daffyd smiled softly and followed her, keeping his boxers on, and crawled into her bed next to her and laid there facing her, his eyes drinking in her naked form as one of his hands reached out to caress her cheek. 

Kai turned to daffyd, something dark residing behind her eyes. She then reached over and turned off the lights. A faint blue glow suffused the room from a sphere sitting on the vanity.

He stared into her eyes, his own showing nothing but love, affection, trust, and acceptance for her.

Kai reached over and caressed his cheek, warmth and love, as well as a primal darkness filling her eyes. "Daffyd.." Kai purred. "I need you."

"And I am here for you Kai. ALL that I am is yours tonight and for as long as you'll have me." He said as he reached out to her and ran his hand down from her cheek to her neck, down her side to her hip.

She shuddered under his touch, cold fire racing from where his hand traced straight to her spine."Then I want you to make me scream your name to the stars." she pushed a button on the wall, and the familiar silence of soundproofing filled the room. "Just, be kind... This... This is my first time." Kai flushed a lovely shade of pink.

"As you wish my love." He said as he moved closer to her and kissed her deeply while his hand started to caress her a little more aggressively, moving over to her ass where it squeezed and pulled her closer to him, letting her hips hit his boxer clad ones, and for her to feel how stiff being around her naked body made him.

Kai moaned softly and nibbled at his lips as he consumed hers. Instinctively she pressed her hips against his, indulging in the hardness she found there. Her subtle movement elicited a moan from Daffyd's lips into their joined mouths while his hand squeezed her ass. He then swept up her side to cup one of her breasts, squeezing it lightly while the fingers sought out her nipple and started to tease her.

Kai's back arched, and she broke the kiss as a sharp gasp was ripped from her throat, followed by a soft, needy moan. She trembled under his fingers, as threads of fire were left across her skin where his fingers traced. "Goddess Daffyd..."

Daffyd took the opportunity and bent his head down to capture one of her nipples in his mouth. He sucked lightly at first but slowly started to suck harder, while his hands rolled her onto her back and slid down her body, spreading her legs enough that his fingers danced around her womanhood, coming close to touching her lips without actually touching them. 

With so many sensations filtering into her body, all of them new and exciting, her head began to swim with pleasure.

He smiled inside as his mouth moved over to her other breast while his fingers finally grazed her lower lips gently, teasingly, and she felt his hard length throbbing through his boxers where it was pressed against her left calf.

"Daffyd!" Kai moaned and her hips moved greedily, her body begging for more.

Daffyd looked up from her breasts and smiled as his fingers gently parted her lips and sought out her clit. "Yes my most beautiful Kai?"

"Goddess above! Daffyd... You... Oh goddess, I've never... You..." Kai was unable to form a complete sentence through the intense buildup of pressure through her body.

Daffyd slowly kissed his way down her body, getting closer and closer with his mouth to her center of pleasure while his fingers teased that delicious little nerve bundle and the opening to her pussy. "Mmmmmmm" he moaned in pleasure as he drew closer to his target.

Kai whimpered and moaned, her muscles beginning to quiver. Unable to form proper words anymore, her wordless moans grew louder and louder.

Daffyd paused briefly as his mouth hovered over her crotch before he descended onto her pussy, his tongue darting out to flick across the small nub, while one of his hands gently eased one finger inside of her. His probing finger met no resistance, and her womanhood was practically dripping.

Kai moaned and writhed on the bed, her head filling with blinding light, and the rush of pleasure as she felt his finger exploring her pushing her to new highs that she had never known.

"Mmmmmmm" Daffyd moaned/hummed against her clit as he pumped his finger in and out of her tight entrance, hoping to stretch her out just a little bit before entering her himself "Cum for me my love." He encouraged her.

"Daffyd!" Kai screamed as his finger pushed her over the edge and she crashed into a massive orgasm. Her vision blurred and all she saw was stars as she arched off the mattress. The moisture levels between her legs skyrocketed, and he felt the walls of her womanhood twitch around his finger.

"Mmmmmm, you ready for the main event my love?" He asked her as he slowly pulled his finger out of her. His other hand reached down and stripped off his boxers, letting her feel his throbbing length against her calf.

Kai was still reeling from her orgasm, but as soon as she felt his engorged flesh against her calf, she got a wicked idea. Dipping her fingers into herself, she then reached down and gently grabbed his cock, and stroked it with her silky soft hands, spreading her own juices along his length.

Daffyd moaned in pleasure as he slid up her body, letting her stroke his cock till she felt it almost against her opening, and he gazed into her eyes, love, lust and desire shining in them.

Kai groaned in pleasure and moved him until he was perfectly lined up. Releasing him, she softly whispered "please"

"As you wish love." Daffyd groaned as he pressed the head of himself into her.  
She hissed in pain as his cock stretched her further than she ever had been before, but mere moments later, the pain subsided, and she looked up at Daffyd with clear, and passionate eyes. Taking her look as his go ahead, he pushed the rest of the way into her, burying himself to the hilt.

Kai moaned in pleasure. She had never felt anything quite so wonderful. She rolled her hips experimentally, gasping and moaning like a creature posessed as Daffyd's cock pressed into her.

Daffyd moaned a little louder and started to slowly thrust in and out of her tight opening, leaning down a little to kiss her passionately.

Kai met his lips and began to nibble on them. She drew her nails lightly down his back, and rolled her hips in a rhythm to match his.

He groaned into their kiss as he pistoned in and out of her, his hands moving to cup her breasts and play with her nipples. He was rewarded for his efforts as Kai's back arched up at his attentions, and her climax began to build once again, the walls of her pussy fluttering around him.

Daffyd leaned down, moaning in her ear softly as his thrusts grew more powerful and she felt his hard cock start to throb faster. "Gods Kai, you're going to make me cum." he moaned

"Then... Do... With... ME!" Kai screamed out the last word as a second orgasm ripped through her. Far more intense than the first one, but more manageable this time, it filled her head with a blinding white light, and she felt as if the goddess herself were channeling through her.

"KAI!!!" Daffyd cried out as he fought through her orgasm to bury himself in her to the hilt right as he came, pumping his seed deep into her waiting womb, his whole body stiffening as his orgasm ripped through him and into her.

Riding the waves of orgasm out, Kai collapsed back on the bed, utterly spent.  
Daffyd collapsed on top of her, panting, his cock throbbing and slowly growing limp inside her.

Daffyd pushed himself up and stared down at his love, a smile on his face. “How was that love?” he asked quietly.  
He got no response, as Kai had passed out in pleasure.

Carefully getting up, he got a warm, wet towel and wiped up the mess that he had made of his beloved, before tucking her under the blankets, and curling himself next to her. “Sleep well, sweet Kai.” he said softly, and laid himself down, allowing sleep to overtake him as well.


	13. The morning after can be awkward

Daffyd slowly woke up, disoriented and uncertain of where he was at first. He felt a warmth next to him and he instinctively reached out and grasped it, squeezing lightly and feeling a small nub grow hard in the palm of his hand. His eyes slowly opened to see Kai curled up on her side, with him pressed against her rear, his hand squeezing her right breast as his arms were wrapped around her, both of them wearing nothing more than what they had been given on the day of their birth.  
 _How did, oh yeah THAT'S what happened, wow......_ Daffyd thought as he smiled goofily as he lay there. He moved his head forward and kissed the back of Kai's neck and just cuddled her, content at the time with holding her.

Kai opened her eyes and blinked as awareness crept into her brain. She felt some pressure on her chest, and looked down at Daffyd's hand. "Well, thats one way to wake up." kai rolled over to face Daffyd. "Do you feel any better? We should analyze the data you were given and share it with the fleet." 

Daffyd chuckled and shook his head, then kissed Kai passionately. "Business so early in the morning my love?" He asked playfully. "We'll do that today, I promise, I need to send a dispatch boat to Tylar reporting what happened, he needs to be made aware of it at the very least." He told her as he pulled her close in a hug and tried NOT to react to her body against his. "How are YOU holding up though? Yesterday was your first taste of combat, and I have a feeling it won't be your last." 

"It hurt, im not going to lie about that. But if there's more combat in my future, i need to be ready for it." kai snuggled into Daffyd's chest. 

Daffyd hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "And I'll be with you every step of the way my dear. I'll do my best to help you achieve your dream, including the one about living over 100." He told her with a small chuckle. _hopefully her mother or a servant don't show up with us like this. It would embarrass Kai so much._ He thought. 

A chiming noise echoed from a speaker on the nightstand, and kai rolled over and hit the button. "This had better be important."   
"Lady Kai, you and Master Daffyd are expected in the dining room for breakfast in 30 minutes."  
"Thank you Elisa." kai turned off the com. And rolled over to face daffyd "thats our wakeup call." 

Daffyd grumbles as he gets up out of the bed and pads over to her bathroom. "That gives us time for a shower, if we move fast. I'm sure your mother would appreciate us NOT smelling of what we did last night my dear-heart." Daffyd said as he entered the bathroom and she heard the shower start up. 

Kai smiled fondly and followed Daffyd to the bathroom for a quick scrubdown. 

Several minutes later Daffyd stepped out of the bathroom toweling off and giving his love a mock glare. "You are an absolute tease when you want to be my love." He playfully growled as he remembered her dropping the soap and bending down to get it in front of him. He shook his head and got dressed slowly and waited for her to be ready to escort her down for breakfast. "How are you feeling down there my love? I hope I wasn't too rough on you." 

"Feeling fine. Can we not talk about this till ive eaten?" kai grumbled, clearly not in the mood for morning banter till she got some coffee. 

He kissed her lightly on her forehead and nodded as he saw she was ready and held out his arm for her as he opened the door, ready to escort her to the dining room. 

Kai took daffyds arm and nodded gracefully, clad in a delicate sundress. "To food!" kai giggled happily as they walked to the dining room. 

Daffyd chuckled at her happiness as he led the way to the dining room, a wide smile on his face as they walked into the room. He pulled out a chair for her and helped her sit down, scooting the chair in towards the table, before sitting next to her and looking up at the head of the table where her mother was seated. "Good morning Lady Ix." He greeted her politely. 

Hex looked at the two over her laced fingers and grinned wickedly. "So, Mr. McKay, do you prefer the title 'lord' or 'master'?"

Kai sputtered her orange juice and broke into a coughing fit. 

Daffyd kindly patted Kai's back to help clear her airway as he laughed loudly. "Please my Lady, I'm just a simple jungle rat from Catachan who was lucky enough to make it first in the Shield Fleet, then as a merchant. The only title I have ever been comfortable with has been my rank, Captain, otherwise I prefer to be called by the name my parents graced me on my naming day." He answered her shaking his head. "I have never had a need to gather titles." He gazed at Kai, and seeing her recovering, moved back to eating with a light grin. 

"Be that as it may, you are now a part of this family, if last night went as i predict it did. As such, you get a formal title. Now pick one." Hex grinned, knowing the effect on her daughter.

" Mother!" kai exclaimed, turning beet red.

"So i was right." her mother shot back. Turning once again to Daffyd, she smiled. "You made a right proper woman out of my daughter then?" 

Daffyd chuckled and looked over at Kai with a grin that had a slightly lecherous tint to it. "You could say that............Mother......" Daffyd said with a smirk in her direction. "If you HAVE to give me a formal title, fine, but what is Kai's full title, should mine not fall in line with hers if that is the case?" He asked, throwing the decision in her face, showing he did know and at least somewhat agree with some traditions, even if he didn't follow them himself. 

Hex laughed, watching Kai turn redder and redder as she ate her pomegranate. "Her full title is Lady Kailiandrai Regulus Ix, Captain of the regimen, Diplomatic Envoy to the stars, Master of Seven notes."  
Hex looked pointedly at Daffyd and grinned.

Kai kept her head down, and picked at her food, turning as red as the pomegranate in front of her. 

"My my, impressive titles indeed. If that is the case, given the choices that you offered, I would be picking Lord, to ensure my Lady is not embarrassed that her love is a MERE Master." Daffyd said with a small smirk as he kept eating "Please don't be TOO embarrassed Kai-love, you're with the ONLY merchant to have a completely modern ship, and even more important, said merchant loves YOU, not your titles, not your money, not your family name, just YOU." He said softly to her, though her mother could probably hear his every word. 

Kai looked up at Daffyd, her face trying to maintain poise. "I am aware of that, 'Lord Daffyd McKay, savior of aliens, Merchant of repute, Captain of the Fleet.'" Kai said, a grin finally breaking across her face. "Anyone can have titles, its what you do with them that matters." Kai turned to her mother. "Do you HAVE to embarrass me like that momma? You know I hate my full title." 

Hex looked at kai. "He asked dearest. Should i have lied to your beau?" Hex smiled warmly at her daughter.

"I just wish you'd have left out my captainship." Kai looked rather depressed. 

Daffyd raised an eyebrow at her reaction about her captain-hood. "Why my dear? Did something happen to your ship?" He asked gently, knowing how much it hurt when he had lost a ship he had captained to the breakers due to battle damage, or that one of his old ships had been destroyed with all hands aboard a few years back by pirates. 

"I never had a ship. I am the captain of the planetary defense force, Equine division." Kai moved some food around her plate. "I cant fly, but I have a way with horses. My steed, Bluebell, is in the family stable. I don't like being part of the military. I hate violence."

"Hence why the Equine division is ceremonial only." Hex placed a loving hand on Kai's arm. 

Daffyd nodded in understanding. "Family tradition to serve I take it?" He asked Hex, then turned to face Kai more fully. "As long as I live, you yourself should never have to commit an act of violence Kai-dear heart. I will stand in harms way for you and fight in your stead, regardless of the situation." He promised to her with a light grin. "Violence is a way of life on Catachan, given how deadly our home is, and its almost the one thing besides surviving that we Catachans excel at." He continued before his voice dropped to a softer tone, "which is why the most successful Catachans have someone to curb our violent tendencies, someone to give us a reason to PROTECT rather than fight. Someone like you Kai." 

Hex nodded in confirmation of Daffyd's guess. Kai looked up at Daffyd, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Thank you, love." 

Daffyd reached out to caress her cheeks softly. "No, thank YOU Kai, for being the rock for this old warrior in his troubled life." He said softly to her with a soft smile. He then looked up at Hex. "Can I perhaps get a dispatch boat? I need to send a report back to Shield Base, the Fleet needs to be made aware of what happened here, and what Kai and I have done and offered to these aliens, we're going to need some serious reinforcements." He requested of her. 

"Anything you need, Lord McKay. I will have a dispatch boat and a messenger prepared for you immediately." Hex waved dismissively at a servant and the young man scampered off. 

"Thank you, I don't want my Lady's home to be so vulnerable. Right now I'm the most modern and probably strongest ship currently in system, and that makes me feel very........vulnerable and exposed. I can't be everywhere in the system with one ship, which means someone is going to get hit hard if we don't get good reinforcements here quickly." He said, then looked down at his plate, noticing he had finished his food, then looked at Kai with a smirk. "So, care to return the favor I gave when we met?" He asked playfully. 

Kai smiled and finished her last bite. "Of course! There is much to see in the manor. Mother, may we be excused?"

Hex smiled and waved the two away. "Go on, get! You kids have fun. Lord McKay, your dispatch boat will be ready at the shuttle pad when you are."

Kai grabbed Daffyd's hand and dragged him up. "We will start with the recreation wing!" 

"Thank you Lady Ix." Daffyd said as Kai started to drag him out of the dining room. He smiled at her as she dragged him off, letting her pull him. "The recreation wing eh? Sounds fun my love." He said as they walked along, his eyes roaming her body as she led the way.


	14. It's not real, is it?

Kai laughed and dragged Daffyd down the hallway. "We really SHOULD be sorting through the information you got, and processing that. It's not like these aliens are going to just disappear, and there are more of them coming for safe harbor I'm sure The fleet will need to know of this. It might not hurt to ask for reinforcements, unless you've already done that without consulting me." Walking through winding halls, they are suddenly greeted by bright sunlight, and the sound of birds. Looking up, a clear blue sky hangs overhead, with fluffy white clouds scrolling by. A seemingly endless field of grass ruffled slowly in the breeze. "Welcome to the meditation chamber. This is the centerpoint of our recreation facilities. Great grandpa Prax had this room constructed by utilizing the improbability drive technology. After our brightest minds refined it, we get this." Kai pressed a button, on the wall outside the room, and it suddenly shifted, to now be a replica of a Terran Dojo. "It's all projections, but it looks pretty real, huh?" Kai grinned. 

"Amazing." Daffyd said softly as he gazed in wonder, never having encountered something this complicated. "As to requesting reinforcements, well I gave a bare bones report, but I know Tylar, he'll mobilize a significant force to reinforce this location. I have a feeling the our victory here was way to easy, and that's going to attract attention." Daffyd warned her. He looked over at her and gave her a wry grin. "Military things and how to phrase things are my area of expertise, while yours is more talking people down I think. That dispatch boat I asked Mother for received that report and left to take it to Tylar and the rest of the Fleet. I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see reinforcements within the week on the outside." He said as he wrapped an arm around her and looked over the Dojo. "This is so relaxing, even if I didn't practice, just being here is calming, though that might be more the company I have rather than the location." 

Kai laughed heartily. "Is there anywhere you'd like to see? Im sure I could pull something up.” 

"Do you have anything of the jungles of my home? I haven't been back there in decades." He said wistfully. "And does your system simulate the conditions of what it pictures?" He asked, giving her a half hug squeeze. 

"Sadly humidity and wildlife are things we can't replicate, but temperature and audio are included." Kai pushed a panel, and began typing furiously. "It's linked to the guide databank, sooo..." Kai pressed the button, and the room shifted rapidly until a jungle scene appeared. "This is based on what the guide has for info on Catachan jungles, as documented by my sister." 

Daffyd gasped as he stared around at how accurate it was, the heat was spot on for the average spring at midday, instinctively he crouched down when he heard a hellbear roar in the distance, pulling Kai in close to his chest protectively, his body tense as instincts long unused came back a thousand-fold. His protectiveness coming to the fore as his head darted everywhere, looking for a safe route to take his mate home. 

"Woah!" Kai exclaimed as she was suddenly swept up. "So this is what your home is like?" Kai looked around. "Daffyd, calm down. This isn't real." Kai placed a reassuring hand on his chest. 

Daffyd shook himself like a cat trying to get water out of its coat, before looking down at her, his eyes a little wild still, before his instincts took over briefly again when his eyes settled on her and he growled at her before kissing her deeply and passionately for several seconds before slowly breaking the kiss and putting his forehead against hers and stared DEEP into her eyes and growled out a single word to her. "MINE!" 

Kai melted into his kiss. _So strong, so passionate... he..._ Kai smiled gently. "All yours." Reaching over to the panel, she pushed the button again, and suddenly the jungle was replaced by a bright rainbow of colors. A small rock path led to the middle of the room, and flowers filled the room from every angle. Roses were the most common flower, but there were some Lillies, as well as some of the flora native to Betlegeuse. All in all it created a masterful patchwork of color. "Come back to me Daffyd..." Kai said softly. 

As the jungle sights and sounds disappeared, she could see his normal self slowly returning to the fore. He looked around confused as the settings registered in his brain and then he looked back down at her as he still held her protectively and possessively and cocked his head as he looked at her, her lips mildly bruised from his deep kiss, causing him to blush madly as he realized some of what he MAY have done.

"Umm Kai, I didn't go too far did I?" he asked, concerned. 

Kai giggled in response "Not at all. You just got a little intense. I guess I hadn't realized just how deep seated your instincts were. Or how forceful." she looked at him lovingly. "You really are something else, Daffyd." Kai looked at the scene that had unfolded, and then scowled. "Someone messed with my programming again!" Pulling away from Daffyd, she walked over to the console and angrily began typing. After pushing the button, the scene changed again minorly, and the rock path was replaced by a very large Daisy. The entire scene seemed to zoom in, as if they were bugs on a flower. 

Daffyd blinked as she left his arms. "As long as I didn't hurt you." He said softly, then looked around at all the flowers. "I take it you love flowers my dear?" He asked with a chuckle. 

"I do" Kai nodded in affirmation. "I have always had a soft spot for things green and growing." She smiled and flipped a switch on the panel. A plain, white room, about 15ft square suddenly surrounded them. Kai grabbed daffyd's hand, and dragged him to a previously unseen door in the back wall. "Let me show you the rest of the place." 

"I'd love to see more." Daffyd said slyly as he followed along behind her. 

The next few rooms were nothing spectacular. A swimming pool, a sauna, a weight room, a dance floor and parlor. Then Kai approached a door with a digital combination lock. "This... this was Darold's favorite room. Dad built it specifically for him. None of the rest of us really had reason to use it." After inputting the code, the door slid aside with a soft hiss, like the automated doors on a spaceship. Inside was a plain, black and silver hex patterned room. She led Daffyd into the room, and pressed a panel as the door slid shut, patterned in the same way as the rest of the room. 

"So what is this room about?" Daffyd asked slowly looking about the room. 

Kai picked up an odd headpiece that looked like simple black straps with odd bolts protruding from them. Placing it over Daffyd's head, Kai spoke plainly. "Computer, load program Darold 115.4" After a few seconds, the room shifted away, and Daffyd was standing on the back of a swiftly moving train, Kai was nowhere to be seen. "This was Darold's VR trainer. It allowed him to practice, and get stronger, without having to beat up his boyfriend." Kai's now disembodied voice chuckled at the memory of their first spar. "Darold was the eldest, and he was the head of the planetary defense force. The first time he and Bryant sparred, Bryant ended up with a broken nose. Then dad had the VR trainer built. Any combat simulation you want can be loaded." Kai looked at Daffyd, wearing Darold's old vr headset and smiled sadly. 

After a few seconds he carefully removed the headset and looked over to her. Kai re-appeared and the simulation ground to a standstill. Daffyd saw her sad expression plainly. "You miss your siblings don't you?" He asked softly as he carefully put the headset up and moved over to her. "I know how that feels, I miss all of my family as well, but now I have a new family, which is just as important to me as the one of my birth." He told her huskily as he opened his arms to her. 

Kai buried herself in Daffyd's waiting arms."They were taken far too soon. I watched them all go. I feel lost without them." Kai nuzzled her face into his chest. "I know it affects mother as well. She seems to have taken to using the VR trainer. herself. And, in light of recent circumstances, I brought you here to ask you to teach me how to defend myself. You might not always be at my side to protect me, I would like to make sure I can at least survive long enough to get back to you." Kai looked up at Daffyd, determination written on her face. "Will you teach me, Daffyd?" 

"Of course I'll teach you. And my crew will help. They may have only known you a couple of days, but you sure won over the entire team, even my lesbians, with your cooking. We'll all teach you, and slowly but surely, you'll learn to be capable of being a warrior, when you WANT to be one." He promised her, giving her a tight hug. 

"Thank you, Daffyd." Kai's usual grin was starting to creep back onto her face. "So, now that you've seen the house, what would you like to do?" 

"You." he said with a smirk at her. "Seriously though, I wouldn't mind walking the grounds around the manor with you, maybe take a nap under a tree with you. It's very calm and relaxing here, and who knows how long it will be till everything picks up again." 

Kai nodded. "We can go for a walk then." She linked her arm with his and began walking to the front door. "And don't think that just because I don't respond to the crass things you say doesn't mean I didn't hear them." she said, leveling a steely glare at him. 

Daffyd chuckled and rubbed that back of his head. "Wouldn't dream of it my dear, but a man sometimes doesn't know all of his boundries without his love telling him where they are." He smiled at her. "I know where MOST of them are in regards to you, and I do restrain myself from acting on a lot of my impulses, out of love and respect for you, but it doesn't change that there is so much that I WANT to do to and with you." He told her truthfully as they walked to the front door. 

Kai smiled and turned faintly pink. "And we will have time to explore that. But... Those things have a time and place. Specifically in private." Kai brought herself up to her full bearing as they walked through the door. Suddenly putting on a professional face, she led them to the manor gardens. 

Daffyd smiled as his eyes wandered about, despite knowing that it was supposed to be safe here, his instincts, awakened by his visit to a virtual version of home, weren't satisfied that there weren't potential assassins or dangerous creatures around that may attack his mate. While he tried not to tense up, she could feel his muscles quiver in anticipation of having to move suddenly as they walked into the garden, his head moving about slowly, taking in the sights in a casual manner, though it was anything but as his eyes flicked from hiding spot to shadow. 

Kai laughed lightly. "Daffyd, there is nothing here that could bring harm to anyone." she bent down and lifted her hand to a flower. Pulling it away, a ladybug crawled over her knuckles. "The most dangerous thing here is the insects Daffyd. You can relax." She rotated her hand, watching the ladybug walk. 

Daffyd chuckled dryly. "It's hard to fight the instinct once its been awakened Kai. Intellectually I KNOW there is nothing that could be around here that would hurt you, but the instincts say something else entirely, couldn't tell you everything they're saying right now, a little too public for that, maybe once we lay down under a tree, but yeah." He trailed off not knowing how to continue as he walked beside her. 

A little deeper into the gardens was a small orchard. Many different fruits grew in abundance, and Kai settled herself under an apple tree. "You seem to be keen on a nap." Kai patted her folded legs. "I have a pillow here for you." she smiled warmly. He walked over and laid his head down in her lap and smiled up at her. "Because naps, especially when I can take them with the woman I love, are so wonderful. Besides, there is just something so calming and soothing about being around you, as if I don't have to worry about anything........" He said, breaking into a yawn at the end as he snuggled into her thighs, leaning forward to kiss her stomach. "One day....." he murmured softly. 

Kai smiled subtly, and began to gently stroke Daffyd's forehead. Soon he was snoring away his hands occasionally twitching against her thigh, gripping her lightly.


	15. A meeting of similar minds

A dispatch boat translated out of hyperspace and into the Betelgeuse System. Once it's Warshawski Sails had folded back into the wedge, a message was sent to the Free Catachan, addressed to Daffyd McKay.  


"Daffyd McKay,  
Under the Emergency Reserve Regulation, you are hereby pressed back into Active Duty. You are hereby ordered and directed to take command of the Betelgeuse Defense forces and defend the system against hostile forces until relieved. Reinforcements will be dispatched as soon as they become available. You are hereby granted authority, as system defense commander, to commandeer any Fleet warship that enters the system, to add to your forces. Fail this duty at your own peril.  
Tylar Noche,  
Admiral of the Fleet,  
Shield Fleet."  
Attached to the message was a copy of Daffyd's Reserve Commission.certification. However, it said "Commodore" instead of "Captain," and was dated five t-days ago, meaning he'd been promoted as the dispatch boat had been leaving the system.

~*~*~*~

Kai sat under the tree watching Daffyd sleep until their peace was disturbed by a rather frantic young man. "Lady Kai, Lord McKay, message for you. Came in by boat!" the young messenger handed Kai a slip of paper and darted away.

Kai nudged Daffyd to wake up. His eyes twitched and popped open to see Kai. "Muuuaaaahhhh. Yes love?" He asked, as a yawn stretched his mouth open.  
"Message. Came by boat. Might be important." Kai handed Daffyd the paper it had been printed on.  
Daffyd read the message and started cursing up a storm. "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch! He KNOWS how much I didn't want this!" Daffyd snarled as he let the paper drop and sighed heavily staring up at the tree and her.  
"Daffyd, love, what's wrong? Did something happen to Ara?" Kai touched Daffyd's cheek in worry.  
"No, thank the gods, but I'm going to hurt Tylar, a lot." He answered as he passed her the message to read. Kai read the note quickly. "Commodore? This sounds like a good thing. Why are you so bothered by this?" Kai ran her fingers through Daffyd's hair, enjoying the silky feel of the strands.

"I have been avoiding flag rank for the past sixty years my love. Flag rank means I'm gone from the command deck, I'm no longer the master of the ship, that's someone else's job now. FUCK!" He cursed then sighed.  
"Wait, i'm sorry, but im confused. You won't be commanding the Free Catachan anymore?" Kai thought for a minute. "Don't you own her?"  
"I've been reactivated love, which means breaking out the uniform and he mentioned reinforcements, which means a full up warship or considering my rank probably a heavy cruiser squadron, will be mine to command now, at least for this emergency, until I am relieved of duty.”  
Kai blinked a few times. "So you're part of the military again, and in charge of ships to defend not only my home, but an alien race?" Kai smiled confusedly "i'll be at your side no matter what." _what does he have so firmly against the military?_  
"Thank you my love, I was going to have you at my side even if Tylar tried to tell me no." He grinned at her, then leaned up to kiss her softly. 

Kai returned the kiss gently. After breaking the loving kiss, she spoke softly, almost reverently "I should tell Bryant that he now takes orders from you as well. Our military force is at your command, My Lord." She smiled and moved to stand up.  
Daffyd sat up so she could stand up, then gracefully rose to standing himself. "True, I hope that this experience won't be like last time." He muttered to himself.  
"Come with me to our military outpost. Its across town, the fastest way is horseback. Have you ridden before?" Kai linked arms with Daffyd and began navigating him towards a large barn right outside the garden.  
"It has been a LONG time my dear." He told her as he followed her. "More recently eaten a horse than ride one." He said with a slightly dark chuckle.  
"Well, no eating any of our horses." She quipped back at him, horror in her voice. They walked into the barn, and Kai whistled. A black Clydesdale stuck his head out his stall and nickered excitedly. Kai walked up to him and rubbed his nose. "Hello bluebell! I've missed you!" Kai turned to Daffyd, and smiled. "Well, you can have your own, or you can ride Bluebell with me, your choice."  
"Hmmm ride my own horse or have my beloved in front of me, pressed against me? Such a tough decision!" He said playfully as he walked over to join her by her horse. Leaning over towards her. He whispered in her ear. "I'll take option two." 

Kai laughed. "Then you'll want to hold on tight." she then grabbed a saddle from the wall, designed to fit two, and fitted it around the giant animal. She opened the gate and clicked her tongue once, and the massive beast walked over to a step stool. Kai climbed into the saddle, and then offered Daffyd a hand up.  
Daffyd grabbed her hand and swung up behind, he wrapped his arms around her, letting one hand rest just below her breasts and the other right above her hip bone, below her belly button. "All ready my love." He whispered a little huskily in her ear as she felt him pressed all along her back.  
Kai clicked, and then leaned forward and placed her hands on the sides of the horse's unbridled neck. "Ready to run boy?" Kai clicked her tongue again, and he took off. The horse slowly gained speed until his dinner plate sized hooves were moving so fast there was no way to keep up. Kai laughed with mirth at the feeling of riding her horse again. 

Daffyd smiled widely to hear her laugh and tried to resist kissing her neck. "You love this eh?" He asked her with a laugh in his voice.  
"I do" kai returned happily, spurring bluebell faster. Coming up swiftly was a low building, small and seemingly insignificant. The gates opened automatically as bluebell charged through. He slowed down and stopped in front of the door.

Upon entering, the building was cool, and a secretary sat at the desk.  
"Lady Kai, Bryant is expecting you and Lord McKay. Please proceed."

She pressed a button and a panel in the floor slid open to reveal a staircase.  
Kai turned to Daffyd. "After you, my lord."  
"Thank you my lady." He said with a small smile at her. He walked down the stairs heading to meet Bryant. 

~*~*~*~

Bryant Relan-Ix sat at his desk in the cool basement level, guarding the door to further into the military compound. As Daffyd and Kai approached he jumped up and saluted. "Ma'am! Sir! Pleasure to meet you. I am told you are our new commander, Lord McKay?" 

Daffyd snorts and gives Bryant a grimace. "Bryant, would you fucking relax?!" Daffyd shook his head. "Only reason I'm supposed to take overall command is because Tylar directed it, and while he might have the power in his office to do that, I'll be damned if I usurp your authority over your system defense ships! I'll command all Shield Fleet ships that show up, but you'll retain command of all your defense fleet. In fact, while I may be the overall commander until I'm relieved by someone more senior, I'll dance to your fiddle when it comes to YOUR defensive needs. Consider the Free Catachan at your disposal once my crew is back aboard. Until then, don't worry or stress, just brief me on your standard procedures when invasion is imminent and we'll work together, after all, we're probably going to be family eventually."

Daffyd moved over and sat down heavily with a sigh. "Damn that man, I did NOT want this!" He complained as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "You think a FRIEND would know how much a guy DOESN'T want to be flag officer!" 

Bryant looked at Daffyd in confusion for a few moments. "So, you really didn't want this assignment, yeh?" a smile quirked up one corner of Bryant's mouth. "With all due respect, sir, We haven't had a tactical military mind in here since... well, since my husband died. I am not the military man he was. Hell, I only joined the defense force to be closer to him." Bryant stared wistfully at the gold band on his finger. "I know you don't really want the post, but we would be more than happy to have another member of the Ix family, even if by relationship rather than blood, with a military mind to guide us." He turned around and grabbed a data pad from a shelf. "It's probably outdated now, but this is the guide for defense that Darold wrote for us. we base all of our operations on the guidelines he put in place. It was Darold who originally came up with the idea of a system defense." Bryant slid the pad across the desk to Daffyd. "Feel free to peruse it, memorize it if you want, and make any suggestions for improvement." Bryant smiled warmly at Daffyd.  
Daffyd sat up straight and stared at Bryant as he shakily reached out and took the datapad. "You have GOT to be shitting me!" Daffyd said as he took the pad and started going over it, glancing through the various procedures and what not. "Well I'll give your husband, may his soul rest well, this, he knew what he was doing, only a couple of things I might tweak, but that's because it would be for more modern ships that what you have. How he was able to get away with acquiring a flotilla of destroyers backed by four light cruisers and two heavy cruisers is got to be an interesting story." Daffyd said with a grin before he fell back with a heavy sigh. "Shit, guess I can't avoid this then." He gave a mournful look over to Kai, then straightened up and looked at Bryant. "Admiral Bryant, I formally accept command of the Defense Fleet, and Mother willing, if things go well I MIGHT be convinced to permanently take your position at a later date." He sighed, "well we have at least two to three weeks before the first reinforcements show up. I see no reason to up the readiness level, but notify all ship captains to be prepared for a Case Zulu situation." He told Bryant, knowing that Bryant would understand that Case Zulu was 'invasion imminent' even if Kai didn't. He then looked over at Kai and gave her a weak smile and mouthed sorry to her. 

Kai beamed back at Daffyd, and relief was etched into Bryant's face. "Maybe you could help me, Lord McKay, to become a better military man? Our previous leader, while a brilliant military mind, was... uh... distracting... to learn from." Bryant flushed pink at a sudden rush of memory. Turning to look at Kai, Bryant smiled "So, sis, can i steal your Man for a while? I promise i won't do anything you would with him." Bryant shot Kai a smirk.  
"I... You..." Kai flushed bright red. "If Daffyd wants to, You two boys can talk military till the cows come home. I have some work on the guide to catch up on, I oughta go home and work on that." _And I have to hack a couple of systems together before nightfall._

Daffyd shook his head then smiled at Kai. "Go ahead love, we'll talk shop until dinner and I'll see you back at the manor. I need to teach this guy at least the basics that I'm going to need from my executive officer for this craziness!" Daffyd said both wryly and cheerfully. "Have fun updating the guide." He gave her a very smokey look. _I've got half a mind to get up and kiss the hell out of her right now._ he thought passionately 

Kai smiled. "I'll see you at home then. Have fun boys!" Without another word, Kai took her leave, and once back astride bluebell, she raced to the house as fast as she could. She dashed into the house, and ran straight up to her room. She had a whole lot of work ahead of her if the night was to go the way she wanted it to.


	16. Dinner and Drama

The two men talked for several hours, with Daffyd imparting much knowledge and a little bit of wisdom to Bryant about how to run a Fleet or Navy. Eventually, despite how into teaching Daffyd got, he noticed the time and grinned at Bryant. "Well looks like we have just enough time to make it back to the house for dinner before we upset the women folk by being late." He said with a smirk.   
Bryant, having absorbed all the knowledge Daffyd had imparted grinned happily. "You may not yet have seen this face of Kai, and to be honest I don't think she wants you to know, but if she ever gets pushed to the point of rage, back off and find a bomb shelter. She becomes a force to be reckoned with. Although it takes a whole lot to get her to that point." He then held up a set of keys, and tossed it at Daffyd. "This might help you get around. I know Kai prefers horseback, but the rest of us tend to prefer horses of steel and aluminum. Consider her yours." Bryant waved happily. "See you back at the house Bossman!"

~*~*~*~

Kai had finished her modifications, cleaned up, and was waiting in her room for the serving staff to announce dinner. 

~*~*~*~

Daffyd laughed and he followed Bryant to where the bikes were stored and got on the one that the key fit, then followed him back to the house, looking forward to having dinner with his, as he now knew, little bombshell of a girlfriend.   
As Daffyd and Bryant walked into the house, The chimes of dinner rang through the house. Kai appeared at the top of the stairs, once again clad in elegant evening attire, and smiled at Daffyd. Descending the stairs far faster than she probably should have, she threw herself into Daffyds arms and planted a kiss on his lips. He eagerly returned the kiss and hugged her tightly. "You made it in time for dinner!" Kai then turned and smiled at Bryant. "You are joining us for dinner finally Bry?" Bryant just looked straight ahead. "No, Kai, I figured I would eat in the stables with the horses." He then reached out and ruffled her hair. "Sorry i've been so busy kiddo. The aliens have had us running ragged lately. Though with the information your boyfriend has shared, i think things will be going much smoother. And now i can get mom off my back about not eating." Bryant then looked at Daffyd. "You sure you want to be part of this family? It's not too late you know."  
Daffyd looked over him and smirked. "Yeah I'm sure, believe me, this family is MUCH better than the one I was born into, if only because we aren't fighting for our lives whenever we walk out our front door." Daffyd answered

Kai socked Bryant in the arm. "Not funny Bry." She spat out. As Kai punched bryant, Daffyd didn't stop himself from reaching out and goosing her playfully.   
Kai yelped loudly, and pulled away. "No fair Daffyd!" But a silly grin spread across her face. "Come on. Mother does not like to be kept waiting." Kai walked towards the dining room, gesturing for the boys to follow her.   
"Yes dear!" Daffyd said with a smirk at Bryant as they followed her into the dining room. As he entered he looked up at the family matriarch and smiled at her. "Good evening Mother, I hope your day has been profitable." Daffyd said in greeting as he moved to sit next to Kai. 

"Profitable? Is that a merchant thing?" Hex shot back. Her face was clouded and dark, and she looked incredibly unhappy. As everybody took their seats, and food was served, Hexaclara stood up. Her face softening, she actually smiled as she raised her glass. "To a better defended Betelgeuse, and to our new military leader, Commodore Daffyd McKay!"   
"Cheers!" Kai echoed back, and looked happily at Daffyd. Hex downed her drink, and spoke softly. "If you kids don't mind, I am feeling ill, and I think I will have my meal in my chambers. Enjoy your evening, and sleep well, whenever you do sleep." And having said that, Hex left the room, leaving a very confused Bryant and Daffyd looking at Kai for answers.   
Daffyd was uncertain what exactly just happened there other than being welcomed as the new military leader of the Family. "Love?" He asked slowly   
"Bad day dealing with the local governing body.” She said simply, taking a bite of food. “The old idiots on the council are less than pleased with the fleet sending people this way. She spent the day arguing with them why it's a good thing, and why they needed to let her handle it." Kai picked at her food. "The local governing body dislikes change, and feels that the fleet coming here is going to upset the entire economic balance of the system. I don't think they realize just how beneficial to us this could be. She spent her day banging her head against a brick wall of stupid." Kai looked up and smiled at Daffyd and Bryant. "Nothing you boys need to worry about. Just more diplomatic Bullshit that we have to deal with." Kai stutffed a bite of food in her mouth and chewed happily. "Thifff iffff Rrrealll tafffffty" 

As soon as Kai mentioned politics Daffyd sighed and shook his head. "Idiots all of them." he muttered before he started to eat. He grinned as Kai talked with food in her mouth. "Yes it is really tasty dear." He said with a smirk as he kept eating.   
Kai was the first to clean her plate. Looking at the clock, she stretched and yawned. "I suppose it's been a busy day. We all ought to turn in. Bry, are you going home?" Bryant looked at her and nodded. "Someone has to be there for Lord Fluffypants. He gets lonely." Excusing himself from the table, Bryant Bowed at the both of them. "Sleep well Sis. You too Bossman. I'll see you guys tomorrow, i'm sure."  
Daffyd looked at Kai quizzically as Bryant walked out the door. “Who is 'Lord Fluffypants'?”  
Kai laughed happily. “Lord Fluffypants is Bryant's cat. We got him shortly after Darold died, so that Bryant wouldn't be alone in that Drafty apartment.” She smiled and yawned just a little bit. “We might want to go to bed soon too. It's getting late, and I think we both need our sleep."   
"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. The same room or do you want me in a separate room tonight my dear?" Daffyd asked, with no trace of his preference either way, letting it be her decision.   
"I think we should sleep in our respective separate rooms. You need your rest, and I am doubtful sleeping in the same room would be conductive to good rest." Kai said, with a note of sadness in her voice. 

"I think otherwise, but who am I to argue with such a wonderful, beautiful, sexy, intelligent woman like you?" Daffyd said with a light smile at her as he stood up from the table a then helped her out of her seat.   
Accepting the offered hand, kai's face turned a faint pink color. "Thank you Dearest." Kai linked her arm with his, and led the way up to their rooms. Turning to face Daffyd, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him goodnight. "Sleep well, my dear. And may you have pleasant dreams. If you need me, you know where to find me."   
Daffyd returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around her in return and using the opportunity to lightly squeeze her ass. "You as well my love. Sweet dreams, and I love you." He whispered to her before he slowly broke the embrace and moved to enter his room for the night. 

Kai lingered a moment, and then entered her room. "I love you too, Daffyd. Good night." She said as she closed the door softly.  
Daffyd fully entered his room and stripped down before crawling into his lonely bed with a wistful sigh and slowly allowed himself to drift to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was uncharacteristically short, and I apologize for that. I'll make up for it next chapter, I promise. 
> 
> -Lucky


	17. Of Jungles and Humans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks! It's me, the disclaimer fairy! You guessed it! This chapter is rated... well... This is another chapter that lends itself to WHY our rating is so high. So, like before, if you don't want to read it, skip on over. 
> 
> This chapter is NOT critical for the storyline. (but it sure was fun)
> 
> Enjoy folks!
> 
> -Lucky

A soft call came echoing through the wall. "Daffyd... Daffyd, wake up! I need you to wake up now!"

Daffyd grumbled as he quickly woke up and glanced around his empty except for him room. "What in blazes?" He said softly.

"Daffyd, hurry. Follow my voice, please." the faint call came from the wall in the front room, behind the desk.

He got up and padded forward, the voice sounded familiar, but too distorted by something to identify. He didn't bother putting on more clothes than the boxers he was wearing right then, if it was a threat, it's not like he couldn't kill with his hands.

"Daffyd, come to me. The book case... Come to me."

He moved to the book case and stood before it, and cocked his head to the side. "Now what?" He muttered, more to himself than anything.

"Daffyd, hurry. The books... Out of place... The books." came the voice again

Daffyd raised an eyebrow and looked at the books seeing various titles, but one stood out, being vastly different from the other titles around it. "Nobody is THAT cliche, are they?" He asked as he reached forward and pulled on that book. The book came off the bookshelf, revealing a button pad with a green lit button on it.

"Okay, not fully what I was expecting, but when in Rome." He shrugged and did what his instincts said and pushed the button. Nothing happened, but a soft rumbling noise echoed from the bedroom.

Daffyd turned around and looked into the bedroom, his curiosity really peaked now. Against the wall in the bedroom, where there had been a detailed map of the continent, now there was a door.

"Curiouser and curiouser." He muttered as he move towards the door, looking inside carefully. A long, dark stairway of grey coloration extended from the doorway, down into darkness. Daffyd followed the stairway carefully, still clad only in his boxers, not wanting to fall and hurt himself as that would be embarrassing. The stairs ended in a winding hallway, there was a door at the end. Daffyd moved towards the door carefully, remaining calm on the outside but on the inside he was nervous as hell.  
The door was solid, but he could hear familiar noises faintly on the other side. "What in the name of the God emperor is going on around here?" He mused as he reached forward to open the door.

The door opened to reveal the jungles of his home, and Kai, standing in the middle of the clearing, wearing a very nearly see-through floor length nightgown, with her back to him, a small brightly colored bird resting on her open hand.

As the sights and sounds hit him he stiffens briefly, then as his older self takes over, a different part of him stiffens as he sees his Mate standing in the middle of the jungle clearing, not the safest place for some people, but for him it was perfect. Her back was to him and he slowly and silently stalked up to her and hovered behind her before he struck as fast as a snake. His arms wrapped around her and he molded her small frame to his as he bent down to nibble on her neck as she felt his growing arousal at seeing her in that nightgown.

"Daffyd, you came. Thank you." Kai turned around in his arms and leaned back, allowing him to see just how low cut her nightgown was.  
He growled like a male animal would when his mate is threatened. "It's not safe here Mate, why are you dressed like this here?" He asked, his love and concern for her so obvious a deaf and blind man could pick up on it.

"It seemed most appropriate... Given the intent of this." Kai purred into Daffyds ear and lightly feathered her fingers over his erection.

Daffyd shuddered and when he heard a hellbear roar, like last time, his grip tightened on her again as he pulled her close, trapping his now hard length against the area above her crotch. "If this is a bad idea I can stop it." Kai said, a tone of worry in her voice.

Daffyd's response was to kiss her deeply and passionately as his hands dropped to squeeze her ass, almost lifting her off her feet. She melted into his kiss, and ran her fingers through his hair, indulging in feeling his body against her. As he held her against him, he lifted her a little higher, sliding her along his body, and moved his mouth from devouring hers to her neck where he kissed and lightly nibbled on her neck and whispered in her ear. "MINE! My MATE! Want you so badly!"  
"All yours. Why not do something about it then?" Kai murmured back, enjoying this side of him.  
At hearing her murmur, he bit her right where her neck joined the shoulder, right on a sensitive spot, that he knew would bring pleasure to her, and at the same time leave a mark that would last at least a week. He then slowly set her down, pulled her nightgown off her and turned her around and placed a hand between her shoulderblades, pushing her down to all fours. He positioned himself behind her, and nudged her legs to spread slightly. He then leaned forward and licked her pussy from her clit to the bottom of her opening. He then traced his tongue back up the length of her pussy, indulging in the desperate moan that escaped her throat as he circled her clit with his tongue before pulling it into his mouth and sucking on it. He grinned widely and rumbled happily at her moan and continued eating her out, alternating between sucking on her clit and then sticking his tongue into her as far as it would reach  
Kai moaned and squirmed, her body beginning to respond to his actions. Her muscles began to tense as Daffyd's tongue worked her body. Pleased with her reactions as he worked her, he slid one of his hands up her thigh slowly, letting her feel his fingers creeping closer to the treasure that he was plundering with his mouth. He then slid his mouth back over her clit, sucking and lightly biting it while he slid one finger into her pussy slowly until it was all the way inside her. His action drew a soft, shuddery whimper from her, and he could feel her starting to build towards an orgasm. Kai pushed herself back, attemting to get more of his finger into her, even though there was no more finger to take.  
Daffyd rumbled into her clit as he felt her quiver as he pumped his finger in and out of her tight pussy. She moaned louder and louder as his ministrations, so feral and forceful pushed her over the edge, and a small orgasm racked her body. She hadn't been expecting it, it came on so suddenly.  
Daffyd smirked triumphantly as he leaned back and pulled his finger out of her, he quickly pulled his boxers off and lined his rock hard cock up to her pussy and teased her opening with the head of his engorged member. Kai whimpered needily and greedily pressed her now very wet pussy against the head of the phallus behind her.  
With almost no warning Daffyd thrust himself hard into her, till his balls bounced against her clit. He gave her a couple of seconds to adjust to him being in her, then he started to pound in and out of her hard and fast as he leaned over her small frame to whisper in her ear. "My MATE!"  
Kai cried out and pressed herself back into Daffyd with every thrust. Her entire body trembled as she was rocked to her very core. The feeling of being claimed was new, and so very very addictive. She felt the familiar tightening of her muscles, and her head started to tingle as she felt herself building up again, far slower this time.  
Daffyd kept up the pace he had set as he pounded into her, moaning in her ear as he thrust his cock as deep into her as he could. Every moan that escaped his mouth pushed her higher and higher towards orgasm.  
Daffyd moaned a little louder as Kai felt his cock start to throb and pulse inside her as he kept pounding into her. "MINE! My MATE, my WIFE." He seemed to chant as he thrust, almost as if it were instinct talking. Kai melted inside at his words, and willed herself to plateau away from another orgasm, instead focusing on flexing the walls of her pussy in match to daffyd's rhythm, trying to pull him to orgasm.

Daffyd grunted as his thrusts became erratic and he moaned in her ear. More a feral growl than an actual word, he let her know right as he thrust hard into her, holding her in place as he pumped his seed into her. His feral growls, and the feel of him exploding inside her, filling her, pushed her to another small orgasm, as she rode out the waves of his passion.

Daffyd partially collapsed over her, and he murmured in her ear. "Gods you are too good to me, my beloved Kai. I can't wait for the day...." He trailed of as he slowly came fully conscious of what was going on around him as he felt her squeeze his still hard cock inside her. "Mmmmmmm thank you." He murmured as he kissed her neck.  
"I thought you could use this. I'm glad it was effective." Kai grinned happily and cat-stretched.  
Daffyd groaned as her stretching kept him hard. "Oh it was my love." He said softly as he slowly pulled out of her, his hard cock bouncing, and turned her around and kissed her passionately. She sweetly returned his kiss, and upon breaking away, she smiled.

He laid himself down, and pulled Kai on top of him, allowing her to rest on him "Did I say anything while I was like that?" He asked her. "I don't usually remember saying anything when I go animal like that."

"Oh, just murmurings of 'my mate' and 'my wife', nothing bad. I kinda like your animal side, to be honest." Kai turned a shade of pink.

Daffyd blushed and grinned like a fool at the same time. "That is the more honest side of me. I'm surprised there wasn't a mention of you bearing me children!"'he chuckled. "But having you as my wife, wow, please?!"

"If you're asking me to marry you, Mr. McKay, it is too soon for that. Ask me again, but a ways down the road." Kai nuzzled into Daffyd's chest. "And you've been hinting at breeding regularly."

Daffyd blushed again, brighter this time. "I'll make a good formal proposition of marriage further down the road then, I want to do it right. And when you're ready for children, I'll be more than ready." He said kissing her softly as she felt his cock twitch against her thigh.  
"I am surprised you are not yet sated." kai giggled softly  
Daffyd chuckled lightly. "When I get animalistic, I tend to be capable of going two rounds, one hard, and the other for something more soft and, well, loving. He admitted, a faint red creeping up the back of his neck.  
"That is quite the talent." kai giggled. "We might have to make use of that then.  
Daffyd chuckled lightly. "I hope so, getting blue balled hurts." He told her as he kissed her sensually.  
She melted into his kiss, nibbling at his lips gently.  
He opened his lips a little to her nibbling as he gently ran his hands up and down her back, ass and thighs. "Mmmmmmmm."  
Kai pushed the kiss further, and while Daffyd was distracted, she lined herself up, and pushed herself to be fully seated on his still hard cock. A moan rumbled through her throat. He gasped in surprise and pleasure as his hips instinctively rose up towards her as she impaled herself on him.

Kai ground her hips into him before she started rolling them, her lower body undulating slightly, and her pussy walls gripping him tight.  
He moaned into their kiss a little louder as his hands knead her ass and his hips try to counter roll up into her driving his cock deeper into her. She moaned in response as her muscles started to twitch with the buildup of yet another orgasm. Feeling her iminent buildup, He kept caressing and kneading her as he tried to thrust just a little harder up into her as his cock JUST started to throb. She felt him twitch, and began moving a little faster, taking him in to the hilt, egging him on to orgasm with her, as she could feel it building rapidly, her two smaller orgasms contributing to the swiftness of this one. Daffyd groaned in pleasure and started to counter thrust more and harder, his own orgasm now building more rapidly with their combined movements  
"Mmph... Daffyd... I'm... About... To... Cum..." kai panted out, a light sheen of sweat breaking out over her skin.  
"Same......here......Kai....." Daffyd panted with her, sweat having already covered him as he thrust up into her and his cock throbbed and pulsed like a race horse running.  
Kai twitched and screamed his name as her body crashed through her orgasm, electricity shooting up her spine, and stars exploding behind her eyes.  
Right as she came unwound it threw him over the edge and his hands pulled her hips down as he thrust up, right as he came hard, shooting his hot seed almost straight into her womb, his balls emptied at last.

Kai collapsed onto daffyd's chest in satisfaction. "Wow" was all she could say. He wrapped his arms around her as his cock slowly started to go limp inside her as he kissed her gently. "Wow is putting it mildly beloved." He said softly. _I could hold her like this forever_ He thought to himself sweetly.  
"We should go back to bed, otherwise, ill pass out on the floor." kai nestled into his chest.  
"I THINK I have the energy to carry us to bed, but only one, I don't think I could carry you to bed and make it to mine as well." He warned her.  
"We can share a bed. I like that idea." Kai tried to stand up, and rolled to the floor when her legs failed underneath her.  
Daffyd stood up carefully then picked up Kai bridal style as he slowly carefully and shakily walked back the way he came.


	18. The troops arrive.

Daffyd sat in his 'new' office on Betelgeuse 5 looking over the readiness reports of HIS defense force. It had been a couple of weeks since he took over. His XO was now the captain of his beautiful freighter, at least for now. His system defense XO, Bryant, had been coming along nicely in his studies to be a better leader. On top of all of that, his relationship with Kai kept growing and growing. Most people called him Lord McKay-Ix now, which made him chuckle because they weren't ready to be married just yet, though they had discussed it. Kai had been a wonder for him when it came to dealing with the local council. The two times he dealt with them, with Kai and Hex for support, he had left them a quivering mess, himself with an anger problem, and both Kai and Hex shaking their heads at him, but he had won a larger budget from them, and concessions, with a budget, to build the Betelgeuse Naval Academy! But today was boring reports time, and he hoped Kai might swing by to distract him from the dreaded paperwork.

~*~*~*~

The ACS Komodo Dragon popped into the system from hyper, hailing the Betelgeuse Defense Force "This is Commander Jason Nesmith of the ACS Komodo Dragon, I am here as I was ordered" He sat in his seat, head resting on his hand as he awaited the response.

~*~*~*~

Bryant burst into Daffyd's office. "Bossman! We got a hail! The ACS Komodo Dragon has shown up! Waiting on you now." The younger man babbled the message out rapidly.  
"Thanks Bryant." Daffyd said as he stood up and headed for the command center. _Wonder who is in command, Komodo is a generation older than the Catachan, so I won't have nearly the firepower or flexibility._ He thought as he entered the command center and walked up to the comm center. He put on a headset and nodded to the young ensign on duty to patch him through.

"ACS Komodo Dragon, this is Betelgeuse Actual, welcome to the system, please bring your ship into orbit over Betelgeuse 5 and have your captain come down to Command Central for a meeting. Betelgeuse Actual, out."  
”Yes sir, will do as ordered, setting a course for orbit of Betelgeuse V" came the response from the young man at the comm station aboard the Komodo Dragon.

~*~*~*~

Jason sighed and stood as his ship started to head towards Betelgeuse V. His eyes staring distantly at the viewscreen, his mind focusing on the previous battle they had just survived, at the loss of the ACS Alchemist. His fist tightened in frustration, and he turned briskly on his heel, the tattered edge of his cape fluttering near the floor, his pistol-rapier swinging at his hip as he stalked towards the hangar.

~*~*~*~

Kai walked through the doors of the building, nodded to the receptionist, and headed down the hidden stairs to command central. She walked into Daffyd's office, and finding him not there, sat in his chair behind his desk and kicked one leg over the arm of the chair. Grabbing the spare guitar she kept in his office, she began to pluck a goofy little tune to pass the time.

~*~*~*~

After he finished his piece he nodded to Bryant. "I'm headed back to my office, I'd like for you to be there when that captain arrives, another lesson we shall say." Daffyd smiled at him before he left. He whistled cheerfully as he walked back to his office and when he walked in and saw Kai playing around on a guitar while sitting in his chair, made him smile. "Hello lover." He said as a greeting as he walked up and kissed her lightly. Kai returned his kiss sweetly. "Did I hear you say something about another captain arriving? Should I put on my formal regalia?" Kai looked down at her loose pants and cotton blouse combo. "No my love, you don't, it's only the captain of a heavy cruiser. If it were a flag officer I would say yes, but not a single ship captain. Have you been enjoying yourself today?" He asked as he picked her up in his arms, and sat down in his chair with her in his lap.  
Kai giggled as Daffyd dumped her in his lap. "Big hullabaloo at council today. Alien ships keep showing up, and it's making the old grumps nervous." she continued to pluck at her guitar, humming under her breath softly.  
"Do you need me to come in and bust heads again, like I did to get the Defense Force a decent budget, or get the Academy approved?" He asked her seriously while his hands caressed her stomach.  
"Nah, mother and I are handling it. They just complain to complain. Maybe if the fleet decided to visit the resorts on 7, they'd feel more comfortable, I dunno." Kai shrugged. "Though I should probably get off your lap. As the government liaison to the military, I should be more presentable." Kai clambered down from her perch.  
Daffyd pouted playfully at her. "But you're so comfortable sitting there." He whined a little at her. "I do have a very serious question for you, one that hasn't come up yet in our conversations my love." He said, becoming very serious.  
She tilted her head to the right and stared at him. "A question?"  
"Yes my love, please tell me, with all the things we've done together, and how much I've filled you, that you are on some form of anti-pregnancy program! I do want children with you, but not until YOU are ready for them." He asked her seriously, though his eyes showed nothing but love and concern.  
"Can we talk about this later? You don't need to worry. But this is not a discussion to have at work, and you know that." Kai turned faintly pink.  
Daffyd sighed but nodded. "Tonight please? It's been worrying me lately, what with all that is coming at us probably." He said softly.  
Kai leaned over Daffyd's desk and grinned at him. "You really think i would be so silly as to not be fully aware of everything? I thought you knew me better. I've been managing things since before i even met you. You have nothing to fret. Relax, we have company coming." Kai turned and sat on the corner of the desk, playing her guitar softly.  
Daffyd smiled softly at her. "Yeah I know, and I know its irrational of me, but its been a while, so I'm still adapting to this." He responded to her as they waited for their guest.

~*~*~*~

Jason climbed into the cockpit of his personal ship, started it up, and left the boat bay of the Komodo Dragon. Following the coordinates, he landed at the command centers shuttlepad, and sighed heavily. He stood from his chair, straightened his vest, and opened the door. His cape swished over the light layer of dust on the shuttlepad as he walked into the command building. Upon entering the doors, the receptionist stood and greeted him. "Welcome sir, to Betlegeuse 5's military command center. Are you here to see Admiral McKay?"

"Yes, I am here to talk to the Admiral." Jason looked at the woman and nodded. his appearance was meant to be intimidating, his dark attire, and other fearsome accessories screamed 'do not fuck with me' as he stared the receptionist down. She looked back at Jason, completley unfazed by his appearance, and smiled warmly. "Go right ahead." Pressing a button on the desk, the floor panel slid open, revealing stairs going down into the depths of the facility. "Have a nice day sir."  
"You as well Ma'am" he gave her a tiny smile and started walking down the stairs, his cape dragging along behind each step, the steel plates adorning his shoes making a soft _thhunk_ noise with each footfall. Pulling his shoulders back in pride, he reached the heavy door blocking off the entrance to the command center proper.  
He pushed the door open, and walked into the room. Saluting stiffly, he announced himself. “Commander Jason Nesmith, ACS Komodo Dragon reporting as requested, Sir.” Taking a moment to look around, he saw an older man sitting behind the desk wearing a set of black fatigues with red and orange highlights, off to the side was a young woman in casual civilian clothes with a guitar in her hands.

The older man looked over him and returned his salute.

"At ease Commander Nesmith, I am Admiral Daffyd McKay, head of the Betelgeuse Defense Force. I am also Commodore McKay of the Shield Fleet. I am currently in charge of all defenses here in system and for the defense of the aliens that we have encountered who are friendly." Daffyd informed him as he sat there. "The young lady beside me is Lady Kai Ix, heiress to the Ix Family and the civilian liaison to the military, everything I know, she knows."  
"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Nesmith! Welcome to Betlegeuse 5!" Kai looked at the man and her smile tightened a bit. _He looks like a pirate_  
Jason nodded and stood at ease, his one good eye looking at every detail in his line of sight, taking in the information of the room."Hello Ma'am, it is nice to meet you" he gives a small bow to Kai, and then looked at Daffyd "friendly?" He asked confusedly, his face maintaining it's calm indifference.

"Yes friendly. Of course we encountered a single hostile ship of unknown origin, that the first group Lady Ix and I encountered informed us were their enemy and also an enemy to all life." Daffyd told him. "Your ship will be attached to escort the Free Catachan, my current flagship. She'd be the large merchant ship that you saw when you entered orbit, but don't worry, she is quite capable of defending herself and others." Daffyd chuckled darkly. He then glanced at Kai and saw her tightened grin and quirked an eyebrow at her. Kai waved her hand subtly under the table, a gesture Daffyd had come to recognize as 'later'.  
Jason sat in a chair across from Daffyd's desk, lacing his hands together "did you find the weaknesses of the ship?" Jason asked with a bit of anger and resentment dripping from his words as flashes of watching his friends get ripped apart crossed his mind once again.  
"The Catachan hit one with forty heavy laser head missiles at close range, followed up by four nuke equipped missiles just to be sure." Daffyd told him with a grin, remembering the short battle and the satisfaction he had with how out classed his opponent was.  
"I lost the Alchemist......I....I didn't know how to fight it...we both used our best weapons.....but....when i called for that double broadside......that beam......it....." Jason laid his head in his hands, reliving the scene of watching his friends get blown into oblivion, shakily, Jason sighed and looked up at Daffyd "what exactly did the ship do?"  
"Let's just say, from the recordings we captured, the ship went to pieces." Kai said tightly.

Mere moments after Kai had spoken, Bryant ran into the office. "Admiral, I am so sorry i am late.... oh." He stopped short and walked professionally to stand at the other side of the desk from where Kai was. "Relax Bryant. Commander Nesmith, meet my Executive Officer, Vice Admiral Bryant Rolan-Ix." Daffyd introduced the young man.  
Bryant saluted stiffly "Greetings Commander. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He cast a glance at kai, and noticed her stiff posture. _That spells trouble..._ he thought to himself.  
Daffyd gave Jason a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry you lost your division mate. I've suffered that before. As to what the enemy ship did, they fired a beam of some kind that gave Lady Ix and I a headache, but the friendly alien vessel we were on was damaged quite heavily. However it did not expect the response from the Catachan to be so.........thorough." Daffyd said with a very dark chuckle.  
Jason chuckled along with Daffyd, sitting back in the chair, smiling "I unleashed all hell on its core" "More a case of overkill being underrated Commander. Now, unless you have any new guidance from Shield Fleet, go ahead and return to your ship. When you get there, send us your report from your battle, and we will combine it with the data we already have." Daffyd instructed him.  
"Yes sir, I will" Jason stood and saluted Daffyd before heading towards the door. He re-traced his path back towards the shuttlepad, and climbed back into his shuttle.

Daffyd turned to look at Kai, concern on his face. "What's wrong love?" He asked her.  
"He looked like a pirate." Kai stated, her speech short and clipped.  
"Kai, can I make you a promise?" He said slowly  
Kai turned to face Daffyd. "Yes, Daffyd?"  
"When this is over, you and I will hunt him down and I'll let you be the one to end him, I promise you." He said softly to her.  
“He deserves no less.” came Kai's cold response.


	19. They just keep coming

After nearly a month of traversing through hyperspace, the ACS broadsword finally arrived in the Betelgeuse system. Upon it's exit, it immediately began towards the nearest Fleet Hospital.  
"Unidentified ship, this is Betelgeuse Defense Command, identify yourself and state your intentions." Came the voice comm traffic several minutes after the Broadsword entered the system.  
The Broadsword was quick to respond back, Vanessa's voice came over the line, "This is the ACS Broadsword, we have survivors from the ACS Longsword from an engagement with a hostile entity.''  
"ACS Broadsword, this is Defense Command, head for Betelgeuse 5 for medical assistance and debrief by Command Actual." Came the order  
"Will do, thank you Command." She replied professionally, her eyes glancing back at her navigation officer as she ship turned in the direction of Betegeuse 5.

~*~*~*~

Jason, back on the ship, changed back into his Fleet uniform, keeping his cape draped around him. After arriving back on his bridge, he sent the reports of his encounter with the aliens to Daffyd's office, including the damage reports and munitions report. He leaned back in his chair after the report was filed and chuckled darkly.

~*~*~*~

Daffyd looked up as a report of another fleet vessel's arrival came through the system. His eyes widened when he saw that there were survivors of another ship on board. He looked at Kai and Bryant and raised an eyebrow.  
"I suppose we should address them?" Bryant asked tenativley, still trying to get used to the procedure.  
"Seems the officer of the watch did." Daffyd responded looking at the report. "Won't be here for several hours, and they have wounded." He said.

~*~*~*~

After a few hours, the ACS Broadsword arrived in orbit of the planet, Vanessa's eyes came to look at the small station that orbited the planet, and keyed her mic again, "System Command, this is the ACS Broadsword. We arrived at the planet, but I do not see any medical station in orbit.''

~*~*~*~

The message came through the comm room, and was patched straight through to Daffyd's office. Upon hearing that the broadsword was here, Kai stood up and smiled.  
"And thats my cue." she announced, walking to the doorway. "I'll get the medical response team standing by." Kai waved at both gentlemen as she exited.

"Broadsword, this is Command Actual, medical facilities are planet side, we have support teams standing by at the space port now. Please also send your Captain and the senior officer of the survivors and report to my office for debrief." Daffyd said over the comm.  
"At your command, sir.'' She replied, "Broadsword out.'' and the line went dead.

~*~*~*~

Vanessa clicked her comm off before contacting Tobias, "Lieutenant Winters, I will need you to prepare yourself and your men for transport to the planet-side medical facility.'' She said, her voice coldly professional as she stood, and walked off the bridge to the lift.  
Tobias sighed, as his personal comm went off, and scanned the boat bay as she spoke "Already figured that'd be the case. Already down here, got everyone loaded worst to least."  
"Good. There is a spot for you and I right?" She asked, plainly curious as the lift doors parted, allowing her to walk into the hanger her eyes scanning the crowd, searching tobias out. She caught him waving from his position near the hatch door out of the corner of her eye. It was clear that he intended to make sure that everyone was offloaded before he went anywhere.  
Walking over to him, Vanessa flashed a friendly smile, and sat in the chair next to the gentleman. “Morning, Tobias.''  
Tobias looked at Vanessa as she sat down, clearly awake, but looking worse for the wear."So, anything new going on, Vanessa?"  
"Hm, well. Apparently we're now going down to a Fleet medical facility for debriefing. Exactly how I would like to spend a day." She said with joyful sarcasm.  
He.blinked in surprise. "Wait, we? As in, you and I? Well, they're gonna wait till I make sure my people are taken care of. That's priority." He spoke quickly  
"Well, from whatever commander they have running things said, and I quote, 'send your Captain and the senior officer of the survivors to my office' for debriefing.'” She shrugged, "I am not in a rush to meet whoever is calling shots here.'' She admitted.  
Tobias smiled at her, glad that there was going to be someone on his side.  
"Well, while this is your ship, I was the CO of the division. So...who should be the one to take the lead down there?" He asked tentatively, staring at his folded hands.  
"He obviously wanted both, but I am just fine if you deal with talking.'' She suggested, not wanting her words to come out as harsh as they did.  
"I want your opinion. I'm no longer your CO. Remember, I told you to make the call, back in the Kelnethi system..." he snipped back.  
"You can take the lead if you want Tobias." She replied, her eyes glancing around the shuttle at the surviving crew of the Longsword, as the shuttle lifted off.  
"If you say so." He looked around, taking in the sight of his people, before looking back at Vanessa. "Ya know, I have a bad feeling about all this." he mumbled.  
She gave him a strange look, "A bad feeling about what?' She asked, as the transport dove down towards the planet, the pliot reporting that the ride would only be a short five minutes via her earpeice.  
He waved his hand across the shuttle interior "Everything. The ship. This debrief. This system. You're the only one I don't have a bad feeling about."  
She set a gentle hand on his shoulder and smiled at him, "We are going to get your men taken care of. This is a core system Tobias, we have nothing to fear from it.'' She said reassuringly.  
"Of that, I have no doubt. But even the Core Systems have issues. Like the Rogues I hear about every now and then. Not saying they'd be an issue here. They'd be stupid to attack this far in." He sighed and slumped down. "Probably just being overdramatic."  
"You're fine. But take this time to relax? I'm sure the fleet is going to work you and I to death after we're done here.'' She said with a sigh, as three minutes of their journey ticked slowly past.  
Tobias chuckled. "Sounds like a normal Tuesday, back on Longsword." He was suddenly overcome with an overwhelming urge for coffee. _Hopefully, the CO here has a nice selection._  
"What happened on Tuesday aboard the Longsword?" Vanessa asked with a small smile, hoping he could answer before the pilot set their transport on the landing pad.  
"Oh, I declared that a third of the crew, rotating of course, was to clean the ship. I always volunteered as well, for morale purposes. I regretted it every time." He replied, a note of mirth coloring his tone.  
"No wonder it was so clean the one time I came over.'' She quickly said before the shuttle touched down and the doors slid open.


	20. It's Painful, down memory lane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF!
> 
> Sorry for the insane delay folks. Things got kinda crazy out there in the verge. But we're back!  
> Thanks for waiting guys, I promise to not vanish for so long again.
> 
> -Lucky

As soon as the shuttle landed, a soft, yet strong voice was heard yelling. "Move it, get the wounded to triage, STAT!" A woman with very pointy ears came running up to the shuttle, followed by a herd of medical personnel. "Greetings, welcome to Betelgeuse 5, My name is Kai Ix, our medical staff will be addressing the injured. May I have your names please, and do you have a list of the injured?"

Tobias blinked in surprise, before gesturing to a short, squat man with Chief Petty Officer stripes.

"Chief Ric Tyler is my Bosun. He's got the list. I'm Lieutenant Tobias Winters, this is Lieutenant Vanessa Schäfer. Schäfer is the CO of the ship."

 

Vanessa gave a small nod to the woman, who seemed to lead the medical personnel, "Nice to meet you, Miss. Ix."

"Pleasure to meet both of you. You'll want to talk to our Head of defense, Admiral McKay of the Betelgeuse Defense, but you would know him as Commodore McKay of Shield fleet. He has more information for you." Kai smiled at the two. "Do you wish to see to your crew first?"

Tobias glanced at Vanessa before looking back at Kai. "That'd be appreciated."

"Thank you. Hopefully we won't keep him waiting too long." Vanessa said politely, before shooting a glance at Tobias as she stood.

Kai led the way to the triage setup, where every injured person had at least a nurse tending to them, with doctors flitting from person to person in order of severity. "My apologies you had to come planetside for care. We don't have medical facilities in orbit yet"

Tobias shrugged.

"Its fine. Out in the Verge, this would be a wild fantasy."  
"No need, at least you’re able to provide better care than my small facilities aboard the Broadsword.'' Vanessa replied at the same time, Keeping in pace and staying near Tobias.

"Fantasy?" Kai tilted her head in curiosity and blinked at Tobias. Turning to Vanessa, Kai smiled broadly. "I'm just glad we can help. I hope you don' t mind, we don't have any military doctors, so your people are being treated by civilian Medical professionals." Kai looked over the bustle of care and smiled, pleased with the response. _The council will not like this, but this is important._

"Civilian or military, a doc is a doc. As long as my people are well cared for,I don't care who's treating them." Tobias quipped quickly.

Kai smiled in relief. "I gathered our best medical minds to take care of your wounded crew. They are in the safest hands they can be. Let me know when you are satisfied, and We will go see Mr. McKay."

Vanessa nodded in agreement, smiling as she saw the effort of the civilian doctors, nurses and assistants working to treat the crew before looking at Kai, "I can see they're in good hands, Miss."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Daffyd sat in his office looking over the scan reports on the Broadsword. Minor damage had been done to the ship and from what the initial contact had said, there were survivors of a second ship. _Must have been another alien attack, well they're in good hands with Kai_ he thought _Now how should I approach them?_ Daffyd mused quietly to himself. _Ah! I got, I'll do the 'father-grandfather' role, poor kids are probably still in shock and haven't had the chance to get over the losses_ He looked up at Bryant and gave a grimace. "This one is going to be ugly I have a feeling." He said softly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After a bit, everyone had been seen to, and Tobias was satisfied. "Alright, where's the Commodore at?"

"Right this way folks!" Kai chirped happily. She led them into the building nearby, and the receptionist smiled and pressed the button to open the stairs. "He's down there." Kai stated and grinned at the two captains before turning around to go deal with the medical corps, and put something more professional on.

Vanessa analyzed the stairs that had opened in the floor of the room. "Thank you.'' She called back at Kai as she was leaving, before looking at Tobias, "Well. Ready?" She asked quietly and pointed to the stairs. Tobias nodded and led the way down the spiral stairs. He brought them to a stop at the door, and knocked three times, putting a little more force than necessary behind his movements.

Daffyd looked up from his desk with a small grin. "Enter!" he said loud enough for them to hear through the thick door.   
Tobias entered the office first, making sure Vanessa was behind him. They both stopped three steps away from the desk and saluted.  
"Lieutenant Tobias Winters, CO, DesDiv 413, and Lieutenant Vanessa Schäfer, CO, ACS Broadsword, reporting." 

The older gentlemen, looked at the two of them. Tobias and Vanessa were both taken aback by his appearance. His uniform was a pair of black fatigues with red and orange highlights, clearly not the standard fleet uniform, nor was the rank on his uniform that of Commodore, as they had been expecting. Instead, he wore Admiral rankings. Tobias passed a sidelong glance towards Vanessa, the unspoken question in . 

"At ease lieutenants. I am Admiral Daffyd McKay, Commanding Officer of the Betelgeuse Defense Force." He said with a small smile. "What happened to your people Lieutenant Winters? And besides medical care, how can I and my people help you and yours?" He asked gently, almost like a grandfather or uncle would.

Tobias spoke confusedly. “Sir, I was informed that you were Shield Fleet when we were routed to this system.”

Daffyd chuckled lightly and shook his head. "I do indeed have a commission within the Shield Fleet. Before Tylar decided to pull a fast one on me I was a retired and reserve forces Captain, but after he decided to meddle, AND reactivate me, I'm a Commodore within the Shield Fleet. However I was asked to formally take over the Betelgeuse as the Head of the Defense Force, making me an Admiral. How could I turn down that, when not only my girlfriend, but her mother, and brother in law, asked me to take the position." He answered them. "Now then, please sit, relax, the both of you look like you've seen hell. Would you like some coffee?"

The confusion was broken and Tobias sighed. "Okay, that makes sense. Emergency Reserve thingy." He pulled out a seat for Vanessa and stood behind it, .Vanessa smiled back at Tobias as she sat in the chair, keeping her back straight as she sat looking at Daffyd, "I would love some coffee, Sir." She responded politely.

Daffyd nodded and stood up, he moved over to the coffee pot and poured them both a cup of coffee and brought it over along with cream and sugar for them, then sat in one of the other chairs near them and leaned forward. "It is similar to the emergency reserve activation clause, but the request to hold this position came well before that happened. Now then, any and all of our facilities are here to help you and your people recover as quickly as possible.” He said kindly.

"For those out in the Verge, with little to no backup, it's no cakewalk." Tobias spoke morosely as he took his own seat.

"A single ship showed up and spit out little fighters. Every time they hit us, We took almost no damage, but we all got headaches. But once we finally destroyed it..." He went silent. It still kind of hurt to think about, and the memories played back in his head.

"I know what it is like being on the Verge” Daffyd spoke, reassuringly. “I did thirty years, ten as a marine and twenty as a navy officer Tobias. I can understand what you're going through.” He leaned forward slightly over his desk. “What happened after you destroyed it? I got lucky here, it wasn't expecting the Free Catachan." He said softly, looking over at Vanessa, noticing the strain on her face as she prepared herself a cup of coffee.  
"Would it make you more comfortable if you knew that I'm willing to keep what you tell me in complete confidence? Not even Tylar has been able to pry things out of me that I've sworn not to reveal." He said.

"Once the ship was destroyed. Both ours were untouched. But, after it released some strange beams of directed energy, and it lashed out at Tobias's ship.'' Vanessa spoke in hushed tones, terror looming behind her eyes as she glanced between Daffyd and her Division-mate.

"I lost her. ACS Longsword was ripped in half. Only 30% of my people made it off. She was sent to be scrapped." The words tumbled from Tobias’s lips as if they were water, shame tinting his face and dripping from the acid tone in his voice. He stared at the surface of Daffyd’s desk..  
"I DO understand that pain of being a captain that survives his ship." Daffyd said softly, a haunted look in his eyes. "Did you do EVERYTHING you could think of at the time to save your ship? did you know what that weapon would do after what you had experienced? Did you get as many people as you could out of there alive?" He asked softly.  
"No. I know it wasn't anything I could have done. I know that it wasn't my fault. But that doesn't mean she doesn’t weigh me down. That I won't be writing every single letter of condolence I can." Tobias responded Plainly.

Daffyd leaned forward and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "If you need help in that regard, let me know, I've been through what you're going through, what BOTH of you are going through, too many times for me to be comfortable. I'm here if you need advice. For now though I'm co-opting both of you. Your ship will be staying here for the time being Vanessa, until higher authority overrides me. On my authority as the Betelgeuse Defense Force commander, I am having your ship join as part of the reinforcements from Shield Fleet. In reality I'm authorizing all of you shore leave until further notice. Get your people down here to relax and recover, they need it as much as you do. But until I let you leave my office, I want the two of you to stay here, relax and tell me your stories. I want to hear your side of the battle, everything, to see if it matches the information I have available to me. And we'll wait for someone to show up to let you know what's going on with your crew Tobias."  
Vanessa nodded as she accepted the unexpected order,"Yes sir.'' She looked over at Tobias, "What do you want to know first, sir?"


End file.
